210
17. Monday. Down town in omnibus, the
city all excitement with the news of the capture of
Fort Donelson on the Tenessee River with 15,000
Southern soldiers and three of their generals.
Crowds about the newspaper offices, newsboys
making a harvest, talk everywhere. I heard
the story s details at Harpers , from Fletcher and
Bonner, and we had a bit of talk thereon. Re-
commending Bonner to read Thackeray s last
Roundabout Paper in the Cornhill, entitled On
Half a Loaf, and telling what it touched on,
Aha! said he, about my article; adding that
it was by his suggestion that the Herald had advo-
cated the repudiation of American debts to England,
in case of war. They shall have some more of
it, said he, with denunciation of the English
press and people. I said that England had
acted fairly to this country throughout and that
repudiation was d____d swindling. Fletcher Har-
per thought Mr Gunn was right in the first
proposition; I don t think he expressed an
opinion about the latter. Bonner took my re-
marks without resentment. Read proof of
Missouri story, got $22.50; left. To
the Evening Post office the street in front
crowded with people, reading the posters. Saw
Godwin, Maverick and Williams; got a letter
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Eighteen: page two hundred and thirty-two |
| Description: | Describes the scene in New York after the news of the capture of Fort Donelson. |
| Date: | 1862-02-17 |
| Subject: | Bonner, John; Books and reading; Civil War; Godwin, Park; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Harper and Brothers (New York, N.Y.); Harper, Fletcher; Maverick, Augustus; Military; New York evening post.; Publishers and publishing; Williams |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Scan Date: | 2010-06-14 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Eighteen |
| Description: | Includes Gunn's descriptions of the scene in New York at the commencement of the Civil War, his visits to military camps in and around New York City as a reporter for ""The New York Evening Post,"" boarding house life, the shooting of Sergeant Davenport by Captain Fitz James O'Brien for insubordination, and Frank Bellew's marital troubles. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Civil War; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Marriage; Military; Publishers and publishing; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2010 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
