74

Avalanche Extra, a newspaper broadside shortly before Tennessee secession.

[Memphis, TN], 24 April [1861]
Illustrated broadside, 26½ x 4 inches; folds, minor foxing, pencil note reading "[Th]is is the late news." 

  • Notes: This newspaper extra dates from shortly after Fort Sumter turned Tennessee's sentiments against the Union, but before its 8 June secession from the Union. It notes that the Confederacy was sending troops and weapons to protect Memphis; that Federal forces had surrendered Fort Smith in Arkansas without a fight; and that fortifications were being hastily thrown up in  Washington. 

    Tennessee's leading Unionist, Andrew Johnson, was prevented from speaking at one appearance, and at another "a gentleman pulled his nose for expressing Union sentiments." 

    The masthead shows a cannon firing and a curious flag with 7 stars and vertical stripes; it does not match any of the Confederate flags we have seen.
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