The Civil War Collection of James C. Frasca

8 5/8 x 12 1/4 in. letterpress broadside (creased, few pinholes, few tears to upper edge).

Humorous poem penned by an anonymous author and published as a broadside after James Roddy Sneed, part owner and editor of The Savannah Republican, and William Tappan Thompson, the co-founder and editor of the Daily Morning News, fled Savannah shortly before William T. Sherman's army took control of the city and its newspapers in December 1864. The poem pokes fun at Sneed's patriotic exhortations to southerners throughout the war and contrasts them with his actions in the face of Sherman's approach. Though undated, the poem's last verse helps to establish the publication time frame. The author writes, "Before I close I'd say to those / Who were old Roddy's readers— / That John E. Hayes, in future days, / Will write you abler 'leaders.'" New York Tribune war correspondent John E. Hayes took control of and combined The Savannah Republican and Daily Morning News when Union forces took control of Savannah in December 1864.