We continue our weekly feature of reflecting upon the appropriate 150 year old issue of “Harper’s Weekly [1]” from the perspective of a subscriber in 1861:
[2]Page 3 of today’s paper (June 22, 1861 issue of Harper’s Weekly [3]) has a comic design “for a new coin for the C.S.A.”, noted at the top: “Owe Ever – Pay Never”. One of the prints shows soldiers in the Zouaves uniforms, taken from the soldiers of Algeria in Northern Africa. They seem to be a strange sight in our Yankee army. The centerfold print actually has ten prints, one showing a wagon with lager beer, another showing soldiers putting up telegraph wires, and another showing Arlington House, which is the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Another print shows a huge crowd at divine services at Camp Dennison in Ohio, and another has a partial view of the Pensacola Navy Yard in Florida. Two other prints show the action at Fortress Monroe in Chesapeake Bay, apparently a strategic location to protect this important harbor.
The back page cartoons–when they appear–are always interesting. This issue has one showing: “The American Eagle surprising Jeff Davis in his attempt to rob her next.”