Beschreibung:

Stonewall Register, Fort Delaware, Delaware, April 20, 1865. 4 pp, 8.75 x 12 in. The top portion features an illustrated bust of Stonewall Jackson with flanked Confederate flags. An exceptionally rare handwritten POW newspaper penned by a Confederate prisoner detained at Fort Delaware in Pea Patch Island, DE. It is one of only four known examples, possibly the only one in private hands. Three are currently held at the New York Historical Society, Georgia Historical Society, and the South Carolina Historical Society. Featured stories in the paper include commentary on Sherman's march through North Carolina, General Lee’s surrender, mourning over the assassination of Lincoln, and the author’s dislike of Johnson, claiming he is breathing hatred to us and our cause. On the subject of Lincoln's death, he chides the perpetrator, writing that the status of prisoners has also been most lamentably altered, by the dark, terrible, and despicable assassination of the President of the United States. The enemies of the South will seek to place the ordinance(?) of this cowardly crime at the door of that brave people who for four years have fought and resisted the greatly superior numbers which Northern money has been able to collect against…the noble ranks which sought to protect Southern liberty. Like a traditional paper, it also includes commentary on the “market.” Instead of stocks and bonds, it measures the price of important commodities--tobacco and bread. A portion of the paper reads: No change in prices, either in provisions or tobacco, since our last edition. The quantity of tobacco still on hand is large, and no increase in prices is likely to take place for some months...Since the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Gen. Lee there has been no sales in Confederate money--more is offered to the holders(?) preferring not to part with it for the small sum offered by those in quest of small bills for autograph purposes...the frequent issue of "hard tack," and a consequent high demand for bread upon the Sutler(?), which is sold at 10 cts for a loaf not large enough to appease the hunger of our person. Everything is up to a starving figure and we are forced to purchase or go hungry.... The last iteration concerns the Stonewall Chess Club, its matches, and members. The paper appears to be either one of two papers produced at the camp or the same paper that underwent a title change. The earliest edition of the Stonewall Times is at the Georgia Historical Society and was circulated on April 1, 1865. There are no indications of the names of the publisher, editor, or author, but it maintains the same style as the edition offered in the lot with fewer “advertisements” than the other paper, Prison Times. J.W. Hibbs, Captain of the 13th Virginia Infantry, acted as publisher of Prison Times. Its proprietors and editors were Captain George S. Thomas, 6th Georgia Division 24, Captain and A.C.S. W.H. Bennett, Division 24, and Lieutenant A. Harris, 3rd Florida Division 28. The creators of the newspapers either renamed the Stonewall Times, Prison Times by April 8th or it was a competing newspaper in the camp. After comparing the papers, it appears the Stonewall Register at the Georgia Historical Society is in the same hand as the example offered here; however, the Prison Times at the New York Historical Society appears to be in a different hand. Provenance: Property of N. Flayderman & Co. Condition: Some damage to the upper portion of the newspaper with some toning, folds, and tape on the folds. Some minor tears on the bottom portion.