Norman Gasbarro | December 24, 2010
The Harrisburg Patriot, a weekly newspaper in 1860, published its last edition before Christmas on 20 December. The first four pages were crammed with news of impending crisis. There was very little social, economic, agricultural, or personal news. One article pointed out that the country had been in this state before – in fact, ten […]
Norman Gasbarro | December 20, 2010
The election of 1860 was held throughout the United States on 6 November 1860. The result was that Abraham Lincoln won a majority of the electoral votes and thus was elected President of the United States. His election supposedly was the trigger that brought about the secession crisis. South Carolina voted to secede from the […]
Norman Gasbarro | December 14, 2010
(Part 1 of 4). Corp. John C. Gratz died on 26 (or 25) January 1862 at Camp Northumberland, Virginia, while serving as a member of Company G of the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry. The official cause of death was an “inflammation of the brain.” Three documents in the collection of the Gratz Historical Society record […]
Norman Gasbarro | December 6, 2010
At the start of the Civil War in April, 1861, there was great enthusiasm and support in many places in the north. President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers was answered and it appeared that these men would be sufficient to end the rebellion quickly; life could then go on as before. After the shocking […]
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