NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO
October 1862
From The Missouri Democrat, Wednesday, October 1, 1862.
THE HOWL OF THE REBELS.
The Emancipation Proclamation Denounced as Fiendish.
DREAD OF NEGRO INSURRECTION.
They Retaliate by Raising the Black Flag.
FORT MONROE, Oct. 3, 9 P. M.—The flag of truce boat, Metamora, arrived to-day from Akin’s Landing. She brought down about a dozen passengers, who report that the rebel Congress have resolved in all future actions to hoist the black flag, and exterminate the Federals without granting quarter.
The Richmond Whig of October 1st, says, information from Lee’s army indicates that important movements are impending and will take place at the end of the week. McClellan’s army is on this side of the Potomac and is advancing. The rebel army is in excellent condition and eager for the fray.
The Whig speaks of President Lincoln’s proclamation as endangering a servile insurrection in the Confederate States, and says it is not misunderstood North or South. It is a dash to destroy four thousand millions of our property, and is a bid for the slaves to rise in insurrection with the assurance of aid from the whole military and naval power of the United States. It speaks of the cruelty of the administration, and says Butler is a saint compared with his master.
Our military operations, says the Whig, are henceforth to assume a very grave character. The fiends’ new programme will necessarily destroy all terms between us. The next campaign will be a tremendous one, both in magnitude and character of the operations. Let our authorities prepare the whole strength of our people for the tremendous shock. The enemy is making great preparations as well as issuing fiendish proclamations. We must respond with equal energy. If we do not we are lost. But we will do it.
The Whig says: “Yesterday the Yankees advanced on Warrenton, taking sick and wounded soldiers and parolling them. The movements of Lee and Jackson were towards that place on Saturday, but their movement is not known. It is enough to know that our Generals understand what they are about.”
The James river never was lower than now; in the vicinity of Lynchburg, persons can walk across on rocks without wetting their feet.