Fort Wagner stands on Morris Island, guarding the approach to Charleston. Early this morning fresh federal troops land on the island, sizing up the fort. The only approach to the beach fort is over a narrow strip of sand bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and swamp marshland on the other. Prospects are…
What do the losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg mean for the Confederacy? This week, while the facts of battle are yet fuzzy and news stories often contradict one another, Southern newspaper editors begin trying to make sense of the recent battlefield defeats. Not atypical of the larger discourse in the Southern religious press this week,…
News from Gettysburg and Vicksburg has spread throughout the South, although thanks to the inefficiencies and shortcomings of communication, the facts are frequently interspersed with supposition and rumors. While yet uncertain of many details about Gettysburg, this week North Carolina Baptists’ Biblical Recorder editor J. D. Hufham breaks the sobering news of Confederate losses at…