[Ads-l] "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight"

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sat Jan 7 13:48:43 UTC 2017


Savannah, Tennessee, is meant.

JL

On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 12:46 AM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:

> There is a town called Savannah TN near Shilo Tennessee, where Sherman was
> involved in a battle in the spring of 1862.
> ________________________________
> From: ADSGarson O'Toole<mailto:adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: ‎1/‎6/‎2017 21:40
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight"
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
>
> I meant to say "March 7, 1862 does seem to be on the page in question."
> Garson
>
> On Sat, Jan 7, 2017 at 12:31 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Dave Hause wrote:
> >> Absent an early creation of a time machine, I have to question the
> >> Janesville Daily Gazette's reporting soldiers recently deserting "from
> >> Savannah to General Sherman" as Sherman's "March to the Sea" was in
> >> Nov.-Dec. of 1864.
> >
> > Thanks for your intriguing remark, Dave. The 1862 citation is from
> > newspapers.com, and that database does contain misdated newspaper
> > pages. Indeed, all the databases I use contain some misdated pages.
> > Hence, I usually try to find the date somewhere on the page scan (or
> > on a succeeding/preceding page).
> >
> > March 7, 1962 does seem to be on the page in question. The text is
> > degraded and the "8" is incomplete. The March 7, 1862 date is
> > displayed unambiguously on the succeeding page. Here is a link to the
> > newspaper page that will work for subscribers. Maybe someone else can
> > study the page to see if some of the reportage is anachronistic:
> >
> > https://www.newspapers.com/image/73857228/?terms=rich
> >
> > Perhaps the soldiers were originally from Savannah but deserted to
> > Sherman in another state?
> >
> > Garson
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Dave Hause, dwhause at cablemo.net
> >> Waynesville, MO
> >>
> >> -----Original Message----- From: ADSGarson O'Toole
> >> Sent: Friday, January 6, 2017 1:12 PM
> >> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> Subject: Re: "a rich man's war and a poor man's fight"
> >>
> >>
> >> JL initiated this thread back on November 27 by presenting a citation
> >> dated March 3, 1863 for the saying in the subject line. Below is a
> >> citation dated February 27, 1863 together with a precursor containing
> >> only "rich man's war" on March 7, 1862.
> >>
> >> Date: March 7, 1862
> >> Newspaper: Janesville Daily Gazette (Evening)
> >> Newspaper Location: Janesville, Wisconsin
> >> Article: To-Day's Report (Reported Exclusively for the Daily Gazette)
> >> Quote Page 1, Column 4
> >> Database: Newspapers.com
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> One hundred and fifty rebel soldiers recently deserted from Savannah
> >> to General Sherman. When asked why they did it, they replied that they
> >> were tired of fighting in a rich man's war.
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >>
> >> Date: February 27, 1863
> >> Newspaper: The Liberator
> >> Newspaper Location: Boston, Massachusetts
> >> Article: Union and Emancipation Society of Manchester
> >> (Quote appears in footnote to article)
> >> Quote Page 3 (35), Column 2
> >> Database: Newspapers.com
> >>
> >> [Begin excerpt]
> >> By a recent act, the conscription in the South includes all men
> >> between 16 and 60 years of age, exemption being granted to the owner
> >> of six slaves, and so in proportion, for every six slaves a male
> >> relation or friend is exempted. General Neal Dow says the people in
> >> the South avow that "this is a rich man's war, but a poor man's
> >> fight."
> >> [End excerpt]
> >>
> >> Garson
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sun, Nov 27, 2016 at 1:49 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> >> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I don't see this in YBQ, but that may not mean anything.
> >>>
> >>> 1863 (March 3) in _Papers relating to the foreign relations of the
> United
> >>> States_ (Washington, D.C.: G.P.O.) 137: General Neal Dow [U.S.A.] says
> the
> >>> people in the south avow that, "This is a rich man's war, but a poor
> man's
> >>> fight."
> >>>
> >>> JL
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> >>> truth."
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list