I came across a paper written after Lee’s surrender. It indicates that even at this date some in the Confederacy were still holding out hope for victory. It seems incredibly badly informed. How well were southerners informed about the war’s progress? When did they realize they had lost?

by Reactionaryhistorian

This question was prompted by my finding this rather astonishing issue whilst reading through old Civil War newspapers online (as you do when you have no life). It's from the Chattanooga Daily Rebel which, as its name suggests, is very pro-confederate.

This article was published April 25 1856 and discusses what it calls the recent armistice between the two sides. The writer seems to be under the impression that the result of this armistice will likely be the independence of the Confederacy. He insists that it was asked for by the Union generals. He doesn't seem to believe that Lee has surrendered and he talks about the "flight at Petersburg" being "very disastrous to the enemy". The article also mentions the possibilty of the USA having to withdraw its troops in order to prevent revolution at home following the assassination of Lincoln.

Just how typical is this paper of attitudes in the south at this late date? Is the Chattanooga Daily Rebel simply a case of an isolated refusal to see reality or were these sorts of attitudes and optimism common in the south?

Reactionaryhistorian

Not to try to answer my own question but reading aroung I found this article from The Tri-Weekly News in South Carolina. The Independence of the South-Is There a Cause fo Despondency. Wrtten in the aftermath of Lee's surrender it argues that France is about to intervene of behalf of the South in order to preserve Emperor Maximilian since the "grasping ambition of the Yankees" will leed them to conquer Mexico if they are pemitted to take over the South. This is, it believes, why the North has asked for a armistice. Just how seriously could people have taken such hopes?