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Rare issue of this Confederate "Memphis" newspaper printed in Montgomery, Alabama...
Rare issue of this Confederate "Memphis" newspaper printed in Montgomery, Alabama...
Item # 688836
December 22, 1864
THE MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, Montgomery, Alabama, December 22, 1864
* Very Rare Confederate title from the "traveling" newspaper
* Memphis newspaper printed in Montgomery, Alabama
If the title and city of publication seem to be in conflict, they are not. This newspaper had a fascinating history during the Civil War.
Memphis was a Confederate stronghold up through the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, at which time the Yankees moved in and it became a Yankee city. The "Memphis Daily Appeal", dedicated to the Southern cause rallying both civilians & soldiers, it was the most important newspaper of the region, soon famously known as the "Moving Appeal."
On June 6, 1862, the presses and plates were loaded into a boxcar and moved to Grenada, Mississippi, where it stayed for a few months, until approaching Federal troops threatened again, forcing a move in November 1862 to Jackson, Mississippi, where it published until May 1863, when Federal troops again arrived. By this time, the Appeal had gained notoriety among Union forces as a rebel sympathizer while it remained on the run. The next stop was Meridian, Mississippi, from where, one issue and two days later, the wandering journalists moved on to Mobile, Alabama, then to Montgomery, and ultimately to Atlanta, the economic heart of the Confederacy. Publication from Atlanta began in June 1863 and continued through July 1864, when it returned to Montgomery, where it published from September 1864 to April 1865. Its final move was to Columbus, Georgia, where Federal forces finally caught up with it. It resumed publication following the war in Memphis on November 5, 1865. During just a four year period this newspaper published in nine different cities. (credit: Tennessee State Library & Archives)
This is one of just a few issues we were fortunate enough to find when printed in Montgomery, Alabama, its next to last stop on its trail of survival. The front page has war-related items headed: "From Georgia" "The Atlantic Coast" which gives warning to the possible fall of Savannah with: "...We regard it as impolitic & unwise to lull our people into a false security in reference to the safety of Savannah. We have believed all along that Sherman could take the city...We now believe it to be in his power to take it..." with more.
Other ftpg. items include: "Latest Northern Reports from Middle Tennessee" which includes letters signed by both J. B. Hood of the Confederacy, and George H. Thomas of the Yankee forces.
The back page includes: "Lincoln's Re-Election" and the always interesting editorial, this one including in part an interesting spike of optimism so close to the demise of the Confederacy: "...So soon as the North shall be heartily sick of the war, convinced that victory is impossible, & eager for a compromise even on the basis of Southern independence, peace will have become necessary to Mr. Lincoln..." with more (see for portions). Also on the bkpg: "The War In Virginia" "From The North" "The War In Middle Tennessee" "The Real Object of Sherman's Invasion--A Yankee View of It" "The Confederate Prison at Cahaba" "Position Of the Confederacy" and other war-related items. A great wealth of war reporting in this issue.
Complete as a single sheet newspaper with a full banner masthead, various water staining as shown but otherwise in good condition. A very rare opportunity for an issue of this "Memphis" newspaper when printed in Montgomery, Alabama.
Category: Confederate
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