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Larry Purtell
Little Meadows, PA, USA
Posts: 719
 | | The London press on the war and Gettysurg | | Posted on: 7/18/2010 3:18:08 PM | [/B]THE LONDON PRESS ON THE WAR.--
Published: July 22, 1863[/B]
The London papers, at our last advices, were in a delightful frame of mind. They looked upon the triumph of the Southern Confederacy as a fixed fact, and were preparing to celebrate it with all the exultation becoming a neutral and a Christian nation. LEE's invasion of Pennsylvania struck them as the climax and consummation of military generalship, and of his complete and speedy success they did not permit themselves for a moment to doubt. The Times expected to ???ear "within a week" that JEFFERSON DAVIS was in Washington; the downfall of that Capital was regarded as a foregone conclusion. The Army and Navy Gazette, edited by an old friend, Dr. RUSSELL, pronounced LEE's attempt to be one of the most audacious military movements of modern times, and, while confidently anticipating its success, was candid enough to admit that failure would be "ruin" to the Confederate cause. At the same time, it began to speculate on the contingency of being addressed from Washington by "another Government," and on the difficulty -- not to say the impossibility -- of refusing to acknowledge it. Even the Daily News, which has kept its faith in the Union cause more steadfastly than any other London journal, began to fear that the "Confederate successes in the very neighborhood of Washington" would compel a speedy termination of the war; and the Times announced, with its usual air of confidence, that gold, which was then selling at about 150, "must again advance."
We beg to congratulate our affectionate cousins across the water on the accuracy of their predictions. Within a week after they were made, they had an opportunity of testing their accuracy. We hope they were satisfied with the result. Washington has not yet been taken. JEFFERSON DAVIS is not, up to the present moment, in that Capital. Great Britain has not yet been "addressed by another Government" from that place, and is not embarrassed by any doubt as to the propriety of recognizing it. LEE's army has been driven out of Pennsylvania and through Maryland, and is now chased, through the Shenandoah Valley, back to the Confederate Capital. Meantime, Vicksburgh has surrendered, -- Port Hudson has fallen, the Mississippi is cleared of the rebels, BRAGG has been driven toward the Gulf, MORGAN's band of guerrillas has been driven out of Ohio and either killed or captured, Charleston is again attacked with fair prospects of success, and the premium on gold has fallen more than twenty per cent.
These things show what very poor prophets the London journals are. They show also the extreme folly of attaching so much importance as we are in the habit of doing to the utterances of these foreign oracles. Their interests and sympathies are all against us, and color their opinions upon everything which occurs here. It really makes very little difference what they may think of our war -- of its character, progress or probable results. Their opinions cannot affect the issue of a single battle, scarcely the action of a single man. All we have to ask at their hands is that their Government will remain neutral and compel its subjects to abstain from acts hostile to us and in violation of international law. Upon this we have a right to insist: and if they will give us this we can very well afford to let them predict disasters to our cause to their heart's content.
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"My goal is to live forever. So far, so good.
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| Michigan Dave
Muskegon, Michigan, MI, USA
Posts: 1382
| | Re: The London press on the war and Gettysurg | | Posted on: 7/20/2010 6:39:53 PM | Larry,
It sounds like the London Paper got a wake up call on Civil War realism in July 1863!?
MD
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"The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."
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| tom ryan
Bethany Beach, DE, USA
Posts: 254
| | Re: The London press on the war and Gettysurg | | Posted on: 7/20/2010 8:06:10 PM | Larry, do you happen to know what the source of this article is?
Much of the information these British newspapers, that were favorable to the South, published about the war came from a Donfederate agent named Henry Hotze who was stationed in London and produced a weekly journal called The Index to educate the British government and people about the Southern cause. Hotze worked directly for Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin.
Later in 1863, SecState Benjamin sent two agents to Ireland to propagandize the Irish people against emigrating to the Northern United States and joining the army. These agents also fed stories to the friendly newspapers in Ireland, but had little effect in stopping the emigration.
Tom Ryan
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| Larry Purtell
Little Meadows, PA, USA
Posts: 719
| | Re: The London press on the war and Gettysurg | | Posted on: 7/21/2010 10:44:39 AM |
Quote:Larry, do you happen to know what the source of this article is?
Much of the information these British newspapers, that were favorable to the South, published about the war came from a Donfederate agent named Henry Hotze who was stationed in London and produced a weekly journal called The Index to educate the British government and people about the Southern cause. Hotze worked directly for Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin.
Later in 1863, SecState Benjamin sent two agents to Ireland to propagandize the Irish people against emigrating to the Northern United States and joining the army. These agents also fed stories to the friendly newspapers in Ireland, but had little effect in stopping the emigration.
Tom Ryan
--tom ryan
Hi Tom. No source is referenced for this article. I'm sure though there were many British citizens in the North and South that were sending letters home with their perspectives of the war and undoubtably some reached newspaper editors.
Larry
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"My goal is to live forever. So far, so good.
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| tom ryan
Bethany Beach, DE, USA
Posts: 254
| | Re: The London press on the war and Gettysurg | | Posted on: 7/21/2010 12:23:17 PM | Larry, where did you find this item? Tom
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| Larry Purtell
Little Meadows, PA, USA
Posts: 719
| | Re: The London press on the war and Gettysurg | | Posted on: 7/21/2010 12:40:58 PM |
Quote:Larry, where did you find this item? Tom
--tom ryan
From the New York Times.
http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srchst=p
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"My goal is to live forever. So far, so good.
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