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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

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

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