The Southern Defender

BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE

LEE IS VICTORIOUS!

"STONEWALL" JACKSON MORTALLY WOUNDED

Camp near Fredericksburg, Virginia- The news from the Army of North Virginia is very good. The terrible Battle of Chancellorsville ended with heavy losses suffered by both armies, but our army has been victorious in sweeping the Yankees from the field of battle. Our most notable loss was Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson who was mortally wounded at the height of the fighting. It was Jackson's troops who smashed the Union right in the Wilderness and collapsed the Union position. Only due to the exhaustion of our troops and darkness where the Union soldiers saved from a complete disaster. Hooker was forced to withdraw across the river to protect his flanks, giving the field back to a victorious General Lee.

THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA

GENERAL LEE REPORTS!

Since the battle, the Army has stayed in camp along the Rappahannock River with the Yankee pickets on the other side. There have been many rumors passing amongst the pickets. Union scouts have been spotted at river crossings, evidently surveying the our positions at these crossings where they may make an attempt to ford and attack General Lee's army again. The army is on a constant vigil night and day, to thwart any attempt by Hooker to cross the Rappahannock in force.

YANKEE PRESIDENT RESPONDS

LINCOLN SCARED OF NORTHERN INVASION

Washington- President Lincoln spoke to congressional leaders on the current military situation, given the failures in the eastern theater in the recent campaign against Lee in Virginia. The situation in the west is more depressing as General U.S. Grant's Union forces close down the roads into Vicksburg. If captured, the Mississippi River will be completely under Yankee control. It seems that the Yankee president is scared that a victorious Lee will use the recent victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville to move his army north and again cross the Potomac River as he did last year that resulted in the Battle of Antietam.

Yankee officials in the War Department have expressed the same concern over the direction that the war will take in Virginia, believing that Lee will take the opportunity to move northward toward Washington and the outer defenses of the city. At least one source has stated that Gen. Hooker believes that Lee will not move as rapidly as the officials fear, and that Lee has no intentions of moving without the return of a large portion of the Confederate Army from Suffolk, Virginia. But General Lee has remained silent and will not let any information leak out to the Yankee press on his future intentions, including another invasion of Maryland.

PRESIDENT DAVIS ELATED!

CONDEMNS YANKEE GENERAL

Richmond- President Davis has spoken to a gathering of friends near his home and highly praised General Lee for the great victory at Chancellorsville, while condemning the Yankee commander, General Hooker, for the destruction of property of loyal Virginians. The president also announced that conscription has been undertaken in Southern states and patriotic young men who have delayed military service are now flocking to the call of their respective state governments to fill the ranks of regiments that have seen heavy losses. This is a sad necessity for the armies have been depleted by losses in the recent battles in Virginia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

Mr. Davis also expressed hope that the recent victories will persuade the European powers to recognize the Confederacy as more than "states in rebellion", but as an independent sovereignty. Confederate agents are currently working in Europe to improve relations between his government and the foreign nations, especially in trade. The Union blockade has been very effective, though many tons of useful goods can be run out of southern ports by our blockade runners. "We are very interested in trade," said one French official, "but this war is an internal matter of which we want no part." Thus far, the Yankee government has persuaded the European powers to remain neutral in this war.

SIEGE AT VICKSBURG

GEN. GRANT'S YANKEE ARMY CLOSES IN!

Near Vicksburg -Word has been received that Union forces under General Grant have captured the outer works of the city and taken a large number of prisoners and fifty-seven artillery pieces. The battle is still raging with every prospect of capturing the entire force in Vicksburg. The Yankee Navy Department has received information that Admiral Porter has been cooperating with Grant's army in the siege of Vicksburg. His fleet was cannonading the city and its works by night, while Grant's assailed it by day, thus giving the brave defenders within the town and fortifications not a moment's relaxation from the perils of their situation.

LETTERS FROM THE ARMY

The SOUTHERN DEFENDER is pleased to announce that it will begin publishing letters sent into our offices from soldiers at the front. We have been in contact with many former employees and citizens turned soldiers who have sent letters to us, reminding us that the war is not only fought by generals. It is the soldiers in the ranks who bear much of the burden and we will be pleased to print what they send us in the future.

HOW THIS CONFLICT BEGAN

WHAT BROUGHT US INTO THIS WAR

After two grim years of war, some have come to ask how this conflict even began. We must remember that some issues began at the end of the American Revolution over tariffs on imported goods and the taxes levied on Southern exports. The increase in Northern populations and the steady pace of Southern population has caused more than one debate over equal representation in Congress. The South has lost political power because our population has not been increased by the steady flow of immigrants from Europe. Sectionalism and the debate over state's rights under the laws of the Yankee Constitution widened the breach that grew between the North and South, especially in determining the laws of the western territories, the civil unrest in Kansas and Missouri, and the slavery issue. The rise of the abolitionists and their movement that caused further erosion between Southern planters and Northern aggressors, finally bled over into Kansas and the border states. Despite the Compromise of 1850 and the debates over government representation at the Federal level, the line was drawn with the election of a Abraham Lincoln, a president with no sympathy for the southern plight. Nothing could prevent the coming conflict that opened with the first cannon shot against Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 16, 1861.

"STONEWALL" JACKSON MOURNED

GREAT SADNESS IN SOUTHERN LOSS

GENERAL LEE ISSUES ORDER TO ARMY

From The Charleston Mercury- "Seldom has a people manifested so deep and universal a sorrow as that which has spread over the land with the announcement of the loss of the loved and trusted leader 'Stonewall' Jackson. General Lee's sublime tribute to his services in the late battles is manifest in his letter to the wounded general. Though Stonewall Jackson is dead, his fiery and unequaling spirit still survives in his men. He has infused into them that which cannot die. The leader who succeeds him will be impelled as by a supernatural impulse, to emulate his matchless deeds. Jackson's corps will be led forever by the memory of its great chieftain."

General Lee issued a message of mourning to his army on May 11, announcing the death of General Jackson. It is known that there has been a great sense of loss felt throughout the Army of Northern Virginia and many are anxious for Longstreet's corps to return from the Suffolk area, to exact some revenge on their Northern foe.