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📜 ABOUT THIS PIECE OF HISTORY 📜
This is The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for Saturday, February 8, 1862 — Vol. 21, No. 33 — and it arrives at one of the most electric moments of the entire Civil War. The Burnside Expeditions fleet is moving on Roanoke Island. The dispatches are coming in. This is the First Edition, rushed to press while the battle was still unfolding. The paper you are holding was printed and sold — for one cent — on the same morning that Union forces were storming the North Carolina coastline.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was one of the great American newspapers of the nineteenth century. It had already employed Walt Whitman as editor, and it would go on to serve Brooklyn readers for over a century. In February 1862, it was covering the Civil War with the urgency and detail that made it indispensable reading. This is not a paper from after the battle. This is the paper from the day of the battle.⚔️ FIRST EDITION WAR NEWS — THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION
The crown of this issue is its First Edition war coverage, printed while the news was still breaking. Ambrose Burnsides combined Army-Navy expedition to the Outer Banks of North Carolina was one of the most ambitious Union operations of the wars first year — a major amphibious assault aimed at seizing control of the North Carolina coast and strangling Confederate supply lines. The headlines announce:THE BURNSIDE EXPEDITION — The Fleet Sent to Attack Roanoke Island
IMPORTANT NEWS
REBEL ACCOUNT OF THE AFFAIR — Confederate dispatches included
OUR ADVANCE IN KENTUCKY — the western theater front
Coverage of General Grants movements — Fort Donelson would fall just eight days laterRoanoke Island fell to Union forces on February 8, 1862 — the same date as this paper. The Eagles First Edition caught the opening hours of an engagement that proved to be a decisive Union victory, capturing nearly 2,500 Confederate soldiers and opening the North Carolina sounds to Union control. As a document of the Civil War at the pivot point of early 1862 — when Union fortunes were rising sharply — this issue is extraordinary.📰 WAR INTELLIGENCE & EDITORIAL COMMENTARY
Beyond the First Edition dispatches, the paper is packed with the full texture of the wars home front:WAR INTELLIGENCE — running compilation of dispatches from multiple theaters
VIEWS OF CORRESPONDENTS — letters and opinion on the progress of the war
Editorial commentary on the Union cause and the conduct of the campaign
🏙️ BROOKLYN CITY NEWS & DAILY LIFE
The Eagles City News and Gossip section delivers the vivid texture of Brooklyn in wartime — a city sending its men to the front while daily life continued in the streets, courts, and lecture halls:THE LECTURE SEASON — Brooklyns vibrant intellectual and cultural calendar
CITY NEWS AND GOSSIP — local affairs, commerce, and community
THE EYE AND EAR — the Eagles signature miscellany column
THE COURTS — legal proceedings and local justice
AMUSEMENTS — theaters and entertainment listings
📦 SHIPPING & PRESERVATION 📦
These Brooklyn Daily Eagle issues have survived in remarkably good shape overall — a testament to the quality of mid-nineteenth century printing and the care with which they were kept. I photograph every page of every issue so you can assess the paper closely and in full before purchasing. Please review all images carefully, and dont hesitate to reach out with any questions.Housed in an acid-free archival folder to protect the 164-year-old newsprint
Flat-shipped with heavy-duty reinforcement to ensure safe arrival
Fully tracked for your peace of mind
On February 8, 1862, someone in Brooklyn paid one cent for this paper, read about the fleet moving on Roanoke Island, and went about their day not yet knowing how the battle had ended. Now you can hold it.🏷️ TAGS
1862 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Burnside Expedition Newspaper, Battle of Roanoke Island 1862, Civil War Newspaper 1862, First Edition Civil War, Brooklyn Civil War History, Ambrose Burnside, Union Army 1862, Roanoke Island February 1862, Civil War Outer Banks, Brooklyn Eagle 1862, Antique Civil War Newspaper, Civil War Home Front, Union Navy 1862, Civil War
