From the Galena Online.com "A Day in April" by Steve Repp.
The Alfred W. Mueller Historical Collections Room at the Galena Public Library has actual bound volumes of Galena newspapers dating back to 1834 through to the 1990s.
The April 15, 1861, Galena Daily Advertiser had bold headlines "Fort Sumter Surrendered." It also reported that "in our columns today will be found news of the most startling character. It moves the American heart to its depth."
President Lincoln then called for 75,000 volunteers, forcing the southern border states to follow suit and secede.
Galenian citizen Ulysses Grant later recalled, "as soon as the news of the call for volunteers reached Galena, posters were stuck up calling for a meeting at the court house...business ceased entirely, all was excitement."
With his military background, a West Point graduate, Grant helped train the volunteers and went with them to the state capital in Springfield in late April 1861.
I'll have to pay the library a visit the next time I'm there.
Galena Goes to War. --Old B-Runner
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