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Civil War Harper's Weekly, November 15, 1862

Welcome to our online archive of Civil War Harper's Weekly newspapers. These original documents are full of incredible illustrations and eye-witness reports on the war. We have posted this material to help you develop a deeper understanding of this important conflict.

(Scroll Down to See Entire Page, or Newspaper Thumbnails below will take you to a specific page of interest)

 

United States Capitol

United States Capitol

Victor Hugo

Victor Hugo Poem

Snicker's Gap

Snicker's Gap

Galveston Harbor Map

Galveston Harbor Map

Virginia Map

Virginia Map

Summit Station

Summit Station

Running the Blockade

Running the Blockade

Pirate "Alabama" Cartoon

Sharpshooter

Sharpshooter

McClellan on Horse

McClellan on Horseback

Salt Factory

Rebel Salt Factory

Rebel Guerrillas

Rebel Guerrillas

 

 

NOVEMBER 15, 1862.]

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

733

SUMMIT STATION ON MARYLAND HEIGHTS.—[SKETCHED BY MR. A. R. WAUD.]

SALT-WORKS IN
FLORIDA.

WE publish on page 732 a view of the DESTRUCTION OF A SALT MANUFACTORY ON THE COAST OF FLORIDA by the crew of the United States bark Kingfisher. The affair is described in the following letter from an officer engaged:

"U.S. BARK 'KINGFISHER,' ST.
JOSEPH'S BAY, FLA., Sept. 15, 1862.

"I am glad to say that, after waiting all this time, I have had a chance to see active service. You can imagine with what pleasure we received the order to up anchor, as we knew our destination was the salt-works, at the head of the bay.

"About two weeks since we had a lot of contrabands come off, who informed us that there were extensive salt-works at the town of St. Joseph, making from 100 to 150 bushels a day, and not yet completed. We sent a flag of truce, and politely informed them that they must stop, or we should destroy them. They paid no attention to us, but continued their fire day and night. "We got under way at daylight, sailed up the bay with a fair wind, and came to anchor about a quarter of a mile from the works. As we came in sight we could perceive an unusual excitement, and observed wagons driving inland at a furious pace. We gave them two hours to quit, and then fired a few shells into the works, which had the effect of bringing two contrabands to the beach with a salt-bag, which they waved most furiously. We sent a boat for them, and found out that they had removed about two hundred bags of salt and some provisions, but that every thing remained with this exception; and also the intelligence that there were about eighty guerrillas, mounted, three miles back in the country, and would probably be down to see what was going on. As soon as we obtained this information we manned all the boats, leaving enough men on board to man the battery. I had been ordered to take command of the picket-guard, and station them about a quarter of a mile inland, surrounding the works. You may imagine that was rather skittish work with twenty men to go into the woods out of sight of the ship; but we all drew up on the beach, the pickets in front (in all about fifty men), loaded muskets and fixed bayonets—the whole under command of Mr. Hallet, executive officer. We started, whistling Yankee Doodle. I advanced my men in a straight line to the other side of the works, when we entered the woods and extended our lines entirely around the place. The main body then began their work of destruction, and in less than two hours the whole place was in flames, and the machinery broken up. "I send you a sketch. The whole coast of Florida is lined with these works of a smaller size. This one, when finished, would have been capable of making five hundred bushels a day, at $10 per bushel."

When the new military colony is fairly under way these salt factories will probably become of some national importance.

THE ARMY OF THE
POTOMAC.

WE republish herewith a picture by Mr. Waud, representing SUMMIT STATION ON MARYLAND HEIGHTS.

Maryland Heights is the highest point occupied by the army. The signal-station commands the whole country for many miles around, and is in constant communication with other stations, conveying messages to and from head-quarters. Maryland Heights is by nature nearly impregnable, and could easily be held by four regiments against 50,000 men. From it Harper's Ferry, and Bolivar, and Loudon Heights are entirely commanded, as well as Pleasant Valley, and the towns of Sandy Hook and Knoxville.

The view from the summit is a magnificent one. The Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, the Blue Ridge, the Bull Run Mountains, the Kittoctan Mountains, North and South Mountains, etc.—the towns of Winchester, Charlestown, Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Williamsport, Shepherdstown, and a number of others, are all overlooked by these heights, from which the lines of both armies are also visible. At night, through a powerful glass, the enemy's pickets are visible. But perhaps the most interesting scene is the view at sunrise, when the valleys are filled with joy—looking over the clouds tinged rosy-red by the sun, it seems as if a violent sea had been frozen into stillness at an instant, the mountains rising like islands from the heavy masses of vapor.

CONVALESCENT SOLDIERS.

WE publish on page 721 an illustration of CONVALESCENT SOLDIERS ON THEIR WAY TO JOIN THEIR REGIMENTS, from a sketch by Mr. J. A. Oertel. He writes:

"The subject struck me when I saw it as one of interest in the present period. Washington just now is very dry and dusty, as I have indicated in the sketch. The soldiers were under escort. This is military fashion. They were on their way to the railway station near the capital, and belonged to different regiments, representing nearly all the States, and were in every variety of garb. You will perceive they are not in Broadway fashion. The soldier who has seen service is a different looking object from the trim gent he was when he left home."

The thinned regiments of the Army of the Potomac which returned from the Peninsula in September last have been considerably recruited by the arrival of convalescent soldiers from hospital. At one time there were 20,000 soldiers sick and wounded in the great military hospitals at Newport News and Fortress Monroe—at least so said the newspaper correspondents. Now these hospitals are comparatively empty. Wounds have been healed, and the bracing air of October has dispelled the fevers engendered by the Chickahominy malaria.

THE REBEL STEAMER "OVETO" RUNNING THE BLOCKADE OF MOBILE CHASED BY THE U. S. STEAM-SLOOP "ONEIDA."—[SKETCHED BY THE SURGEON OF THE "ONEIDA."]

Summit Station
Steamer Oveto

 

 

  

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