The Gazette: Recent Episodes
Jake Wynn
A weekly podcast exploring the history of the American Civil War through the perspective of a Pennsylvania town and its weekly newspaper. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Pittston, Pennsylvania was a rapidly growing mining and railroading town located on the Susquehanna River. Its weekly newspaper - the Pittston Gazette - provides a remarkable record of a community's experience in America's bloodiest conflict. This podcast is created by Wynning History - a blog focused on the history and culture of Pennsylvania's Coal Region.
In this week's episode of "The Gazette," residents of West Pittston put up a massive flagpole and flag to great fanfare. We hear the news of the death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth - the first US Army officer to die in the Civil War, and dive into opinions about blockades, neutrality, and foreign policy in May 1861.
Want to learn more about the project and the history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website: https://wynninghistory.com/
In the early weeks of the Civil War, the women of Pittston, Pennsylvania volunteered to manufacture clothing and medical supplies for the soldiers who joined the United States Army. We learn more about the Volunteer Relief Association of Pittston.
We also learn about refugees fleeing the South at the outbreak of the Civil War and hear a letter written by a Luzerne County minister to his secessionist nephew in Virginia.
You can read the full letter (with annotations) here: https://wynninghistory.com/2021/05/21/the-gazette-episode-5/
We are heading out on vacation this week!
This week's episode will be slightly shorter than our typical podcasts. We follow the Luzerne County soldiers of the 8th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and share the origins of Camp Slifer.
Private Charles Cyphers writes home to his former employer at the Pittston Gazette to describe his new life as a soldier in the United States Army.
Want to learn more about the project and the history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website: https://wynninghistory.com/
As April turned to May in 1861, we hear letters written by Pittston soldiers who were training for war at encampments across Pennsylvania. They try to recruit their friends at home and muse over the meaning of life and death in a nation riven by civil war.
We also explore the rampant patriotism spreading across Pennsylvania in the spring of 1861 and the widespread appearance of the American flag before diving into the state of war in May 1861.
Want to learn more about the project and the history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website: https://wynninghistory.com/
On April 22, 1861, a militia company made up of 72 young men departed Pittston, Pennsylvania bound for the state capital to be mustered into the United States Army. Hundreds more prepared to follow and fill the Union ranks. News of the war's first bloodshed in Baltimore raised anxieties as armies began to assemble.
Want to learn more about the project and the history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website: https://wynninghistory.com/
On April 12, 1861, Southern militia forces opened fire on the US Army garrison inside Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War had begun.
In this episode, we examine Pittston's immediate response to the attack on Fort Sumter and the garrison's surrender. We also take a look Abraham Lincoln's call for troops, an advertisement for a local store exploiting the chaotic state of national affairs, and a disaster that took place in April 1861 at a nearby coal mining operation that nearly killed several families.
Want to learn more about the project and the history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website: https://wynninghistory.com/
The first full length episode of The Gazette examines the origins of the Civil War and the political fight over slavery in the United States. It also explores the development of Pittston, Pennsylvania in the 19th century and the establishment of the "Pittston Gazette" newspaper in the 1850s.
We will be updating the podcast weekly, debuting new episodes on Thursdays. We will follow the events of the American Civil War as they happened.
Want to learn more about the remarkable history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website - wynninghistory.com.
Introducing "The Gazette - Dispatches from a Northern Civil War Newspaper."
This podcast will explore the Civil War as it happened, through the perspective of a community on the Pennsylvania home front and the town's weekly newspaper - the Pittston Gazette.
We will be updating the podcast weekly, debuting new episodes on Thursdays. We will follow the events of the American Civil War as they happened.
Want to learn more about the remarkable history of Pennsylvania's Coal Region? Visit our website - wynninghistory.com.