By Elaine Grublin
The following excerpt is from the diary of Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch.
April 13th, 1862
A year today since the surrender of Fort Sumter. The crime then committed has in part received its punishment. Not that I think we at the North are entirely without blame. The John Brown raid was more approved than it should have been, & there has been selfishness, scorn and violence here as there. Still, their conduct has been criminal, – deeply so. The statement of atrocities committed by the rebels on the bodies of Union soldiers disgrace their cause, and our common country. I suppose the President this day signs the bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.
Look to the Beehive in May for Bulfinch’s observations of Union victories and the pending Confiscation Act.