Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J.: Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories Gathered from the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now LivingHine, C. G. (Charles Gilbert)
History
Woodside, the North End of Newark, N.J.: Its History, Legends and Ghost Stories Gathered from the Records and the Older Inhabitants Now Living
Hine, C. G. (Charles Gilbert)
Hine, C. C. (Charles Cole), 1825-1897; Woodside (Newark, N.J.) -- History
Mr. Winser was at the battle of Cold Harbor and had his horse shot under
him. After the battle, during the night, a rifle ball lodged in the tent
pole directly over his head, so low down that it must almost have passed
through his hair, but so exhausted was he that he was all unconscious
that death had been so near. During the Draft Riots in New York, in
July, 1863, Mr. Winser was in command of the battery which protected
Printing House Square. He also did effective work in communicating with
the authorities on Governor’s Island, and although he was a marked man
owing to his connection with the New York Times, he went fearlessly
about the city looking after his friends in the sections where a reign
of terror had set in.
Mr. Winser was once made prisoner of war by Gen. Thomas W. Sherman, who
was in command at Beaufort, S. C. Mr. Winser had criticised his methods
in a letter to the Times. This so angered the General that he caused his
arrest, sending him on board the Arago, which was just leaving for New
York, without permitting him to communicate with any of his friends. The
publication of the affair resulted in Mr. Winser’s reinstatement at
headquarters in South Carolina.
Mr. Winser was with Farragut at New Orleans, as a representative of the
Times. In those days the means of communication were exceedingly slow,
and Mr. Winser, recognizing the value to his paper of such a “scoop” as
the first news of this important event would be, rowed down the
Mississippi from Fort Jackson to the Gulf, where he found a schooner
bound for Key West. This he boarded, and reached his destination a few
hours ahead of the steamer from Havana, Cuba, which touched here for
mail and passengers on its way to New York.
Thus the New York Times had an account of the bombardment and surrender
of Forts Jackson and Phillip three days in advance of any other journal.
This was considered the greatest “beat” ever known in the history of
journalism. It was not only the means of giving the news to the country,
but was also the first intimation that the government itself received of
the success of the fleet. Mr. Winser returned to New Orleans and was
there during the Butler regime and chronicled the General’s achievements
for his paper.
Mr. Winser was also present at the meeting of Grant and Lee under the
famous apple tree to arrange for the surrender of the Confederate Army.
He was one of the commissioners for the exchange of prisoners from
Andersonville, and his reports of the condition of the men were most
harrowing.
When the famous Butler-Porter controversy occurred in 1889, it was Mr.
Winser who was able to prove that Butler’s charges against Porter were
untrue.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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