ABSTRACT
When the Civil War started in 1861, Southern newspapers covered events substantially, providing opportunities for journalists to become field correspondents. In the South, one such traveling correspondent was Samuel Chester Reid, Jr. He was employed by seven different newspapers throughout the War, an unusual accomplishment. Field correspondents of the Civil War weathered hard conditions along with the soldiers. Like many Southern correspondents, Reid was angered by some conditions the Southern army, and especially its lower ranking soldiers and thus himself, were forced to bear. Reid had problems when dealing with the higher ranking officers, especially with General Bragg. Reid despised rumors and tried to dispel them in his writings whenever possible. The road to Blandville is a little east of it, about eighteen miles from Columbus and 8 miles east-south-east-from Cairo. Unlike some associates, he took the time to create different, although similar, letters to each newspaper.
