The ''Charleston Mercury'' was a

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

ist newspaper in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, founded by Henry L. Pinckney in 1819. He was its sole editor for fifteen years. It ceased publication with the Union Army occupation of Charleston in February 1865. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, publication resumed in November 1866 before the paper closed permanently two years later in 1868.Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler (eds.) (2002).
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History
'. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pages 407–408. .

History

During the American Civil War, the paper was "strongly

ist", calling upon South Carolinian men to take up arms to defend the South. Its owner, Robert Barnwell Rhett, had two

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s and 190 enslaved persons. The paper was critical of Davis and Confederate generals, in contrast with its pro-Davis competitor the '' Charleston Courier''. Rhett's son R. Barnwell Rhett Jr. was the editor.

Humorist A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...

George William Bagby was a

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

correspondent of the ''Charleston Mercury'' during the Civil War era and "covered the politics of the war and made a reputation for Hermes, his pen name, as a fearless writer who would criticize Confederate General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

as easily as Confederate President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

References

External links

Library of Congress
{{Authority control Mass media in Charleston, South Carolina Defunct newspapers published in South Carolina Separatism in the United States Publications established in 1819 Publications disestablished in 1868 1819 establishments in South Carolina 1868 establishments in South Carolina 19th-century in Charleston, South Carolina