1865 CIVIL WAR newspaper CONFEDERATE CAPITAL of Richmond VIRGINIA is CAPTURED

Description

SEE PHOTO----- COMPLETE ORIGINAL and scarce Civil War illustrated newspaper,
Prairie Farmer
(Chicago, IL) dated April 8, 1865
with inside report announcing that Union troops have captured the long-sieged city of Petersburg, Va and the CONFEDERATE CAPITAL CITY of
Richmond,
Virginia
!
inv# - 8G-318
1865 newspaper with inside report on the capture of the CONFEDERATE CAPITAL of Richmond, Virgina!!
The
Confederate Congress
shared quarters with the Virginia General Assembly in the
Virginia State Capitol
, with the Confederacy's executive mansion, the "
White House of the Confederacy
", located two blocks away. The
Seven Days Battles
followed in late June and early July 1862, during which Union General McClellan threatened to take Richmond but ultimately failed.
Three years later, as March 1865 ended, the Confederate capitol became indefensible. On March 25, Confederate General
John B. Gordon
's desperate attack on
Fort Stedman
east of Petersburg failed. On April 1, General
Philip Sheridan
, assigned to interdict the Southside Railroad, met brigades commanded by
George Pickett
at the
Five Forks
junction, smashing them, taking thousands of prisoners, and encouraging General Grant to order a general advance. When the Union Sixth Corps broke through Confederate lines on Boydton Plank Road south of Petersburg, Confederate casualties exceeded 5,000, or about a tenth of Lee's defending army. General Lee then informed Jefferson Davis that he was about to evacuate Richmond.
Davis and his cabinet left the city by train that night, as government officials burned documents and departing Confederate troops burned tobacco and other warehouses to deny their contents to the victors. On April 2, 1865, General
Godfrey Weitzel
, commander of the 25th corps of the
United States Colored Troops
, accepted the city's surrender from the mayor and group of leading citizens who remained. The Union troops eventually managed to stop the raging fires but about 25% of the city's buildings were destroyed.
President Abraham Lincoln visited General Grant at Petersburg on April 3, and took a launch to Richmond the next day, while Jefferson Davis attempted to organize his Confederate government at Danville. Lincoln met Confederate assistant secretary of War
John A. Campbell
, and handed him a note inviting Virginia's legislature to end their rebellion. After Campbell spun the note to Confederate legislators as a possible end to the
Emancipation Proclamation
, Lincoln rescinded his offer and ordered General Weitzel to prevent the Confederate state legislature from meeting. Union forces killed, wounded or captured 8,000 Confederate troops at Saylor's Creek southwest of Petersburg on April 6. General Lee continued to reject General Grant's surrender suggestion until Sheridan's infantry and cavalry appeared in front of his retreating army on April 8. He surrendered his remaining approximately 10,000 troops at Appomattox Court House the following morning. Jefferson Davis retreated to North Carolina, then further south, when Lincoln rejected the surrender terms negotiated by general Sherman and envoys of North Carolina governor Zebulon Vance, which failed to mention slavery. Davis was captured on May 10 near
Irwinville, Georgia
and taken back to Virginia, where he was charged with treason and imprisoned for two years at
Fort Monroe
until freed on bail.
Very good condition. This listing includes the complete entire original newspaper, NOT just a clipping or a page of it. STEPHEN A. GOLDMAN HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS stands behind all of the items that we sell with a no questions asked, money back guarantee. Every item we sell is an original newspaper printed on the date indicated at the beginning of its description. U.S. buyers pay  priority mail postage which includes waterproof plastic and a heavy cardboard flat to protect your purchase from damage in the mail. International postage is quoted when we are informed as to where the package is to be sent. We do combine postage (to reduce postage costs) for multiple purchases sent in the same package.
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