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Losses of the Past… Sherman’s March to the Sea…
July 11, 2025 by Laura Heilenman · Leave a Comment
If you have never found your way to the cities of Charleston and Savannah, may I ardently encourage you to make time for a leisurely visit. The beauty and grace of these 2 southern gems inspires and rejuvenates the soul while stirring the mind with lessons learned from a bygone era. Today, as I was familiarizing myself with our upcoming catalog, I came upon the COLUMBIA PHOENIX from April 8, 1865 . I had always been aware of Savannah’s fortunate escape from Sherman’s destructive march and so it was fascinating to ready of a phoenix story… a newspaper rising from the ashes. How appropriate a name given its quick assent after Sherman’s flames. Below is an interesting summary highlighting this printed treasure.
“The Columbia Phoenix arose out of the charred remains of Columbia, the capital city of South Carolina, in the aftermath of the Civil War to record its losses and bear witness to its gradual recovery. A triweekly newspaper, the Phoenix first appeared on Tuesday, March 21, 1865, mere weeks after fires had razed a third of the city. It struck a defiant tone, declaring, “Our city shall spring, from her ashes, and our Phoenix, we hope and trust, shall announce the glorious rising! God save the state!”
Proprietor Julian A. Selby boasted considerable experience in the newspaper business, having formerly owned the Tri-Weekly South Carolinian. In establishing the Columbia Phoenix, however, he literally started from scratch. In the weeks immediately following the city’s destruction, Selby scoured the state for paper, a press, and printing supplies. He and his assistants fashioned for themselves the things they could not find. He also secured the services of renowned Southern literary critic, novelist, and poet William Gilmore Simms as editor. Living conditions in the capital city were so desperate that, early on, the staff offered to accept food staples such as bacon, eggs, rice, and potatoes as payment in lieu of cash subscriptions. The first ten issues contained a detailed history of the burning of Columbia, which was separately published as Sack and Destruction of the City of Columbia, S.C., in October 1865 (itself edited and republished as A City Laid Waste in 2005).”
I love how a paper from over 150 years ago can inspire a desire in me to stand with as much bravery and as much determination as Julian A. Selby did just weeks after his world burned to the ground. How fortunate to be daily surrounded with these heartening heroes and stories of old.
The Civil War… 150 years ago today… June 8, 1861
June 8, 2011 by TimHughes · Leave a Comment
We continue our weekly feature of reflecting upon the appropriate 150 year old issue of “Harper’s Weekly” from the perspective of a subscriber in 1861:
The front page (of the June 8, 1861 issue) has a great print of the “Uniforms of the Fifth Regiment N.Y. Vols…” showing them in garb with very baggy trousers and interesting headgear. I never fail to be amazed at the variety of uniforms worn during the war! Had “Harper’s Weekly” never existed I would not have known of this fascinating variety. There is another nice full page on the “Zouave” soldiers, showing four scenes of “Ellsworth’s Zouaves” in camp, showing them relaxing by their tents, “Getting Rations” and “Cooking Dinner” among other scenes.
Another one of the great map is found in the centerfold, this one being simply terrific! It shows much of Eastern portion of the United States south of Baltimore including the cities of Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh Savannah and even the Florida peninsula. It is a somewhat three-dimensional rather than topographical map, showing the dramatic cliffs of the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry. I’ll keep this map handy as I read of war events in the daily newspapers.
Many more war-related prints are inside, including a nice full page of “Sherman’s Battery of Light Artillery”. This print has a nice print of one of the cannons used in the war.