About Weekly gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va.) 1863-186?
Martinsburg, Va. (1863-186?)

Weekly Gazette

Situated in the strategically vital lower Shenandoah Valley, Martinsburg frequently changed hands between United and Confederate States armies throughout the Civil War. Several times throughout the conflict, Union forces availed themselves of the local press to produce military newspapers. On March 24, 1863, James O'Neal issued a single copy of the Weekly Gazette, promising to produce "an unconditional Union paper."

The Weekly Gazette used the former offices of the Virginia Republican. The Republican, managed by Ephraim and Samuel Alburtis,supported secession and the Confederacy. The arrival of Union forces in the summer of 1861 forced the Rebel editors to flee Martinsburg, and Ephraim Alburtis enlisted in the Confederate army. Federal soldiers confiscated the Republican's presses to produce The American Union on July 4, 1861. Following the U.S. defeat at the Battle of Bull Run, however, Confederate forces reoccupied Martinsburg, and publication of the Republican briefly resumed. By 1863, Martinsburg again lay in Union hands, paving the way for James O'Neal to publish the Weekly Gazette.

Little is known about editor James O'Neal's life. It is possible he was Private James O'Neal (also spelled O'Neill) of the 126^th Ohio Infantry, which occupied Martinsburg in the spring of 1863. Soldiers of the 126^th Ohio reported helping move the local printing press "to print a paper in town." Whatever his identity, editor O'Neal predicted in his salutatory column "the life of our 'little institution' will be brief." For its duration, however, O'Neal determined the Gazette would be an "almost exclusively local paper," hoping to offer "some amusement, inculcating some information, and if possible, of reviving to some extent, the order of things existing here before their rebellion began."

As promised, the Gazette focused primarily on local military and social activities. The paper published orders from local Federal commander General Benjamin S. Roberts, communications from President Lincoln, and reports from Southern newspapers. The paper revealed the divided political sentiments of the local populace. O'Neal encouraged Union men to ignore insults from secessionist neighbors, arguing that secessionists were akin to Loyalists in the Revolutionary era. "When a rebel calls loyal men names," O'Neal declared," it is only the old tory blood in him asserting itself." The Gazette also published a heartfelt letter of thanks by the wounded and ill soldiers of the 65^th Illinois Infantry to the "Union Ladies of Martinsburgh," who cared for them during Confederate occupation in late 1862. The Gazette happily reported on lighter news around town, too, such as Captain Daniel Hart's marriage to Helen Lammond of Washington, D.C., which earned a front page column.

True to James O'Neal's prediction, only a single issue of the Weekly Gazette was published. Martinsburg was attacked by Confederate forces in June 1863, and Private James O'Neal (possible Gazette editor) was captured and sent to the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia where he died in August.

Provided by: West Virginia University