Ohio Civil War Newspapers Now Available on Chronicling America!
150 years ago today, on November 7, 1861, Ohioan General Ulysses S. Grant led Union troops in the Battle of Belmont (in Missouri) against the forces of Confederate General Leonidas Polk.
Excerpt from the Western Reserve Chronicle, November 13, 1861, p. 2, column 3. To see the full article on Chronicling America, click on the image.According to the Warren Western Reserve Chronicle, this was one of the hardest fought battles in the West, the total force on the Union side was about 3,500, all Illinois troops except one Iowa regiment. The terrible strugglelasted from 11 oclock in the morning until sundown. This early Civil War battle, to some considered a victory for the North and to others one for the South, was Grants first, showcasing his talent as a military leader and helping to propel him into the public eye where he would soon become a national hero.
During the Civil War, reports like this were common as newspapers regularly printed news from the warfront, keeping those who remained at home informed about what their family, friends and neighbors were experiencing on the battlefield. With the Ohio Historical Societys latest contribution to the National Digital Newspaper Program and Chronicling America, these and other stories are now easier than ever to access. Issues from the following Ohio papers are now online and keyword searchable at Chronicling America:
These papers are the first Civil War era titles from Ohio to be digitized for Chronicling America. They join over 500 newspapers thats more than four million pages! from all over the nation, including 14 others from Ohio, to chronicle United States history from 1836 to 1922. Over the coming months, even more of Ohios Civil War newspapers will become digitized and available on Chronicling America through the National Digital Newspaper Program in Ohio. The National Digital Newspaper Program is a partnership between National Endowment for the Humanities and Library of Congress and state projects to provide enhanced access to United States newspapers published between 1836 and 1922. NEH awards support state projects to select and digitize historically significant titles that are aggregated and permanently maintained by the Library of Congress. As part of the project, the Ohio Historical Society contributed 100,000 newspaper pages to the project over a two year period ending June 2010 and will contribute an additional 100,000 pages by the end of August 2012.
Jenni Salamon Project Coordinator, NDNP in Ohio
