Army and Navy herald. (Macon, Ga.) 1863-1865
Title:
Place of Publication:
Geographic coverage:
- Macon, Bibb county
Publisher:
Dates of publication:
Description:
- Began with issue for Sept. 24, 1863 ; ceased in 1865.
Frequency:
Languages:
- English
Subjects:
- Bibb County (Ga.)--Newspapers.
- Georgia--Bibb County.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01207988
- Georgia--Macon.--fast--(OCoLC)fst01206924
- Macon (Ga.)--Newspapers.
Notes:
- Also on microfilm: Athens, Ga. : University of Georgia Libraries.
- Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 2 (Nov. 1, 1863).
- Printer: Burke, Boykin & Co., <1864>.
- Publisher varies: Published for the Soldiers' Tack by the Sup't for Dept. of the South-West, <1864> ; Supt. for the Dept. of the South-West, <1864>-1865; J.W. Burke & Co., 1865.
LCCN:
OCLC:
Army and Navy herald. February 9, 1865
About
In the early stages of the Civil War, ranking church officials, largely from the Methodist and Baptist church, cooperated to form the Soldiers’ Tract Association as a mechanism for raising money to distribute religious reading materials. The association’s treasurer was Methodist minister and successful newspaper printer Reverend John William Burke. Reverend Robert James Harp, an agent for the Soldiers’ Tract Association, published the first issue of the Army and Navy Herald in Macon, Georgia, on September 24, 1863. The paper initially printed semi-monthly, but shifted to weekly by 1864. Harp had been operating in New Orleans on behalf of the Methodist Church but was moved to Macon following the Union Army’s occupation of New Orleans in 1862. Harp became a key figure in the Soldiers’ Tract Association by coordinating significant fund-raising efforts and the circulation of reading material for soldiers. The Army and Navy Herald was widely circulated amongst the Army of Tennessee and contributed to religious revivals in the 1860s. The newspaper, distributed free of charge, reached a peak circulation of 20,000. In late-1864, J. W. Burke established his own publishing house in Macon, Georgia, and took over management of the Herald. The Herald ceased printing in the spring of 1865 after the Union Army’s occupation of Macon, Georgia.