"Civil War News"...

I had the entire set as a young boy....it's what got me interested in the CW in the first place. I either lost it or it was stolen around the time we moved in 1963. About 5 years ago I bought the cards again, on EBay. A complete set of representative cards (not necessarily high quality specimens) runs about $600 IIRC. There was also a set of smaller cards issued for sale in the UK, same pictures and "news", but slightly less expensive to acquire now.

As I understand it these cards were issued to renew/create interest in the Civil War amongst younger people, during the centennial years.
 
I had the entire set as a young boy....it's what got me interested in the CW in the first place. I either lost it or it was stolen around the time we moved in 1963. About 5 years ago I bought the cards again, on EBay. A complete set of representative cards (not necessarily high quality specimens) runs about $600 IIRC. There was also a set of smaller cards issued for sale in the UK, same pictures and "news", but slightly less expensive to acquire now.

As I understand it these cards were issued to renew/create interest in the Civil War amongst younger people, during the centennial years.
Thanks. I'm sure these cards did renew/create interest among many youngsters.
 
After a month's rest, Civil War News returns with the events of November, 1863! As often with them, the very first subject is something of a mystery: what exactly is this Ohio "battle" in which the drummer boy dies? The only Ohio actions I remember were connected with Morgan's Raid, which was back in the summer of 1863. The idea itself was a "popular" and typically Victorian nostalgic and maudlin one; there was a poem of the period that was later set to music, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh - "...who prayed before he died", so there's a precedent for this sort of thing. Does anyone have any idea if there's any actual historical event this is intened to represent or where New Lisbon is?

The Battle of New Lisbon is also referred to as the Battle of Salineville and occurred just hours before Morgan's surrender. Morgan lost a few dozen killed and wounded and about 300 surrendered. The sources I've read indicate no Union casualties.
 
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Just when you thought you were "safe" from these: December's sole Civil War News featuring nurse Clara Barton brings 1863 to an end! One wonders why they chose this subject and assigned to it this particular date which could've been used at almost any time? Though in 1961 when these appeared there was no real war going on - Vietnam was only a name on the map and occasionally in the news - perhaps it was intended to be a subliminal reminder that service and its associated suffering is never really allowed a Holiday, however "important". I hope yours is a happy one, and we remember our servicemen and women in this holiday season.
 
I am looking forward to more of these, as they were sorta before my time. I was born the month after the centennial started and they were gone before I was old enough to notice them.
I am glad you started sharing them again so us youngsters can see them!:smug:
 
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After a quiet January no doubt spent in "winter quarters", February, 1864, starts off appropriately enough with a BANG! for Civil War News. As usual there's much that's laughable about their dramatic depiction of the Hunley, from the Confederate Naval Jack painted on its side ( complete with a couple of extra stars ), to the transportation of "Charleston Harbor" to VIRGINIA, but essentially they get most of the basic facts straight. Enjoy it while you can, because there's nothing else before April when That Guy attacks Fort Pillow!
 
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I used to collect these as well and I loved the gum. Never compiled the complete set and I forgot some of the gore they featured. I seem to recall one of a gas-filled ballon being blasted out of the sky and another of a Union Cavalryman being gored on a cheval-de-frise. Why do these images stick in my mind after 50-some-odd years?
 
I used to collect these as well and I loved the gum. Never compiled the complete set and I forgot some of the gore they featured. I seem to recall one of a gas-filled ballon being blasted out of the sky and another of a Union Cavalryman being gored on a cheval-de-frise. Why do these images stick in my mind after 50-some-odd years?

You are quite correct, but those two particular scenes represent for some reason Fair Oaks on the Peninsula and Port Republic in the Shenandoah Valley respectively, both in Spring, 1862, so I don't plan on getting around to posting them for a couple of years or more!
 
You are quite correct, but those two particular scenes represent for some reason Fair Oaks on the Peninsula and Port Republic in the Shenandoah Valley respectively, both in Spring, 1862, so I don't plan on getting around to posting them for a couple of years or more!

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't make us wait that long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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It's April and Spring is in the air - it must be time for active campaigning season to begin again for Civil War News! I guess the source they used back in 1961 never heard of the Red River or Arkansas Campaigns though, so all we get is Fort Pillow, shorn of its most controversial aspect and any mention of black soldiers in its garrison. That Guy recieves favorable notice, however (good for him because this is his only mention), and the battle art is my favorite of any card in the series.

Next month Grant and Sherman heat things up while JEB Stuart and John Sedgewick breathe their last!
 
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Now it's finally time for the momentous month of May, 1864! There are so many events chronicled here I'm having to divide them into two posts just to get them all in, so I'll make it Eastern and Western theaters. Naturally the Battle of the Wilderness "opens the ball" so to speak, with Spotsylvania not far behind. Unfortunately the writers got confused again, what with all the action happening so close together in time and space. Notice that the art in the first two is based on that of contemporary artists Alfred Waud above and Julian Scott below.

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Undoubtedly they chose to match the deaths of J. E. B. Stuart and John Sedgewick but put the latter at the wrong battle and several days too early. ( At least they got the famous quote right! )

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I don't know if they realized Bloody Angle was a part of the larger Battle of Spotsylvania or not, but we can overlook that I suppose. The artist, however, didn't seem to have much of a grasp on the concept of earthworks, instead placing the battle in an angle along a fence!

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Next, Sherman in Georgia!
 
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Happy to oblige you both!

These showing the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign aren't as bad as the others; they at least got the basics straight, but seem to have "lost" several engagements along the way leaving only Resaca and New Hope Church, which they properly placed in a rainstorm. ( Though I seriously doubt anyone was wearing overcoats at the time! ) I'm certainly unaware of any such massacre of "young soldiers" as supposedly happened at Resaca, though the writer did a better-than-average job of describing New Hope Church. Next month the Yankee juggernaut continues!

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I'm just catching up on this thread. I don't think I remember these cards.

Great artwork but really gruesome. I like the one of the Hunley with the Flag painted on the hull. Also "The Flaming Death"---really grizzly for a kid.
 
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