A group of twenty (20) issues of The Daily Dispatch, a Richmond-based newspaper that heavily documented pro-Confederate sympathies throughout the Civil War. Notably, the majority of these issues run advertisements for the recapture of runaway slaves.  

The Daily Dispatch. 20 issues (incomplete run). Vol. XX, No. 29, 32-38, 38-39. 39-43, 45, 48, 49-51. Richmond, Virginia: Cowardine & Hammersley, 3-31 August 1861. Each 4 pages, folio, except where noted. A complete list of issues follows the description.  

VERY RARE. War-time issues of the Daily Dispatch are very scarce. We have rarely seen more than 1 issue offered at a time, much less a large war-time group of 20 iussues. 

Reports of the Civil War filled with anti-Union sentiments run rampant throughout these issues of the Daily Dispatch, dated between 3 and 31 August 1861. The progression of the war is told in a strongly opinionated and flashy manner, including details of home life in the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia.

One issue of the Daily Dispatch, reporting from 24 August 1861, highlights only the pleasure which is derived from the prohibition of Northern publications: “...This was the last lingering parasite of Northern literature that continued, even after the war, to twine around our Southern tree, and suck the vigor of its life away to sustain its own perilous existence.” (No. 45). Such ostentatious language to describe the “rotten” North is used throughout the publication, whether it be describing foreign attitudes of support for the Confederacy, "Napoleon Resolves to Recognize the Confederate States!’ The London Times is bitterly sarcastic on the Battle of Bull Run…The London Herald says that when Napoleon heard of the result of the Battle of Bull Run, he resolved to recognize the Confederate States.” (No. 41) 

This ardent patriotism for the Confederacy is used to describe every occurrence of the war within the Daily Dispatch, continuing to hail the army’s accomplishments: “Sawney, of the New York Herald, does not stand upon trifles. He says ‘the rebel army actually in action at Bull Run numbered close upon 50,000 men, well offered, well entrenched, protected by masked batteries, and abundantly supplies with artillery.’ This is a lie out of the whole cloth. The battle was fought upon unfortified ground; there was not an entrenchment or a masked battery within miles of it. What is said of our officers is true; but all the rest is sheer falsehood.” (No. 38). 

In addition to sentiments regarding the accomplishments of the Confederate Army, it should also be noted that there are a variety of advertisements, recruitment calls, and pleas urging more men to volunteer and enlist. 

What is perhaps most intriguing about these issues of the Daily Dispatch is that fourteen out of twenty examples include at least one advertisement for a “Runaway.” These issues (nos. 29, 32-34, 36-39, 42, 48, 49-51, and 58), all describe the physical appearances and occasionally the name of the enslaved people who had managed to emancipate themselves from their enslavers. Such as in one advertisement, an enslaved person’s name, physical appearance, place of familial connection, personal interests, and proof of literacy are all included in such a description: “$100 Reward for the delivery to me of my CARRIAGE DRIVER, BEVERLY. He is twenty-seven years old: color, black; six feet high; face covered with short beard, and moustache; large eye-brows and curling eye-lashes. He probably travels in a dark grey mix summer coat, or blue cloth with brass buttons, and carpet bag. He says he has read Shakspeare, and may travel with a forged pass, and shave off his beard when he reads this. He has relatives at Dr. R.H. Stewart’s, in King George, and at Mrs. Dr. Frank Taliaferro’s, in Orange, with whom he has been recently corresponding by letter. His object being evidently to escape, he is doubtless lurking about the shore of the Potomac, or making his way Northward, and may be about our encampments." 

 
The Daily Dispatch was first published on 19 October 1850, by James A. Cowardin and William H. Davis. Cementing itself as the first penny paper south of Baltimore, it originally prided itself in its non-partisan reporting, providing the people of Richmond with local, state, and national news. As the war drew closer to the city of Richmond and it was cemented as southern territory, the Daily Dispatch shifted its perspective, serving as a mouthpiece for Confederate patriotism. In March 1865, the offices of the Daily Dispatch were destroyed by fire upon the retreat of Confederate forces out of Richmond. The paper would be revived in the proceeding years, but would never again regain its independent dominance of the editorial scene within Richmond.  

Complete list of issues: 

1. Vol. XX, No. 29, 3 August 1861. 2 pages, folio.  

2. Vol. XX, No. 32, 7 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

3. Vol. XX, No. 33, 8 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

4. Vol. XX, No. 34, 9 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

5. Vol. XX, No. 35, 10 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  

6. Vol. XX, No. 36, 12 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  

7. Vol. XX, No. 37, 13 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  

8. Vol. XX, No. 38, 14 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

9. Vol. XX, No. 38, 15 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  (probable edition typesetting error)

10. Vol. XX, No. 39, 16 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

11. Vol. XX, No. 39, 17 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. (probable edition typesetting error)

12. Vol XX, No. 40, 19 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

13. Vol XX, No. 41, 20 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

14.Vol XX, No. 42, 21 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  

15. Vol XX, No. 43, 22 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  

16. Vol XX, No. 45, 24 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

17. Vol XX, No. 48, 28 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

18. Vol XX, No. 49, 29 August 1861. 4 pages, folio.  

19. Vol XX, No. 50, 30 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

20. Vol XX, No. 51, 31 August 1861. 4 pages, folio. 

 
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Broadsides, Ephemera, Printing, Posters, Handbills, Documents, Newspapers] 
 

Old folds and expected edgewear.