Poetry- “A.D. 1862 Or The Volunteer Zouave In Baltimore….”

“A.D. 1862 Or THE VOLUNTEER ZOUAVE IN BALTIMORE BY AN OFFICER OF THE ‘GUARDS.'”  Printed pamphlet form document by J. Davis & Co. in 1862, with a “Reply to the Volunteer Zouave, by a Baltimore Lady.” 7 pages, issued without wraps.  Held together by string, loose but not separated.  J.Davis & Co. were mentioned as having Southern/ Confederate sympathies.

A copy in the National Collection has writing on the cover, stating the authors were N.G. Ridgely, and Nannie Lemmon.

Another copy in the Rare Books Collection University of Maryland Libraries attributes authorship to the “Reply to the Volunteer, by a Baltimore Lady” to be a Fannie Harwood or a Miss N. Lemmon.

Taken from the site of the Rare Book Collection, University of Maryland Libraries is this write-up about the pamphlet that covers the content of both parts of this rare work.

“In 1862, a Zouave infantryman garrisoned in Baltimore, reportedly named Thomas Hollingsworth Morris, published a pamphlet entitled How They Act in Baltimore By A Volunteer Zouave. The pamphlet publicly admonished certain women in Baltimore society for their Confederate sympathies. While Morris included only first names, the women he addressed may very well have been real people. “Rebel” women in Baltimore were particularly well known for expressing their secessionist sentiments. They often waved or wore flags, and flaunted red and white ribbons or flowers in support of the Confederacy. One response to Morris’s pamphlet included a poem entitled Reply to the Volunteer Zouave By a Baltimore Lady.” The poem was attributed to Fannie A. Harwood or to a Miss N. Lemmon, names that could be pseudonyms of a male or a female author. In any case, the poem mocked and chastised Morris for both his depiction of, and criticisms made against, the women of Baltimore. The poem also demonstrates the possibilities for female authorship and women’s involvement in the politics of the time.” 

This copy is a better example than in the collections mentioned above. Only one copy found on the internet in lesser condition!