Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union

by Len Barcousky, Andrew E. Masich (Foreword by)

Overview

On Christmas Day 1860, the "Daily Pittsburgh Gazette "announced that more than one hundred cannons from the nearby U.S. Arsenal were to be shipped south. Fiercely loyal to the Union, Pittsburghers halted the movement of the artillery, which would have been seized by secessionist sympathizers. Over the course of the Civil War, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County provided both troops and equipment—including heavy artillery—in disproportionately large numbers. While no major battles were fought nearby, local soldiers and civilians sacrificed and suffered—the Allegheny Arsenal explosion in September 1862 left seventy-eight dead and was the worst civilian disaster of the war. Thousands dug trenches and joined militia companies to defend their city as others worked to support the wounded soldiers. Reporter Len Barcousky draws on the next-day reporting of the predecessors of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "to craft a gripping and insightful view of the Steel City during the Civil War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626190818
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Series:	Civil War Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	214,931
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Len Barcousky has been a reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 1986. He has covered Pittsburgh history in his "Eyewitness" columns, and authored Remembering Pittsburgh: An "Eyewitness" History of the Steel City (The History Press, 2010). He received his BA from Penn State and an MBA from Columbia University. Andrew E. Masich is president and CEO of the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Table of Contents

Foreword Andrew E. Masich 7

Preface: The Civil War as Breaking News 9

Acknowledgements 13

Introduction: Lincoln Salutes the Union's "Banner County" 15

1 Politics Precedes the Drums of War

"Wide Awakes" Rally for Lincoln 21

Republicans Win Big in Allegheny County 22

Guns of December Don't Go South 24

New President Offers an Olive Branch 27

2 And the War Came

Stanton Warns Family of "Great Calamity" 30

A Democrat Backs Lincoln 33

Artillery Pieces from Fort Pitt Foundry Pass a Big Test 37

Pennsylvanians Show Mercy to Rebel Supporter 40

Pittsburgh Regiments Demand Better Equipment 41

3 Getting to Know the Players

The Gazette Introduces Mrs. Lincoln 43

Young Abe's Unlikely Duel 45

Grant Picks Up a Nickname 47

Pittsburgh Meets a Future President 49

Life Echoes Fiction in Single Civil War Death 51

4 On the Homefront

Both Sides Call on God's Aid at Thanksgiving 53

Confederate Sympathizer Forced to Leave 55

What War Between Brothers Really Means 56

Cooked Cat Competes for Readers' Attention 58

Allegheny Arsenal Explodes 59

Newspapers Battle over Emancipation's Meaning 62

Friendly Gunfire Greets Lincoln's Proclamation 65

Allegheny Boys Don't Lack Ways to Find Trouble 67

City Digs in as Lee Invades the North 69

Pittsburgh's Sanitary Fair Proves Better Than Average 74

Real Math Trumps Democrats' Optimism 77

5 News from the Battlefield

Reunion at Fortress Monroe 82

Pittsburgh's Negley Tries Tough Love in Tennessee 84

Revenge for Bull Run at South Mountain 86

Pittsburgh Rifles in the Front Lines at Antietam 88

Union Pays for Delay at Fredericksburg 90

A POW Tours the South 93

Pittsburgh Ships Offer Refuge to All Union Wounded 97

Rebels Don "Sunday Clothing" for Chambersburg Raid 99

"Wilderness" Bullet Ends Life of General Hays 101

6 The Gazette Covers the Capital

War Wakes Up Washington 105

A Pennsylvanian Faces Russian Exile 108

Emancipation Arrives Early 110

Pittsburgher's Visit to Jeff Davis Proves a Hoax 112

7 As the Guns Fall Silent

Pittsburgh Mourns Lincoln's Death 114

Andrew Johnson Faces a Tough Crowd 117

Grand Army of the Republic Veterans March in Final Muster 119

GAR Postscript 121

Bibliography and Further Reading 123

Index 125

About the Author 128