The Albany Patriot, 1861-1865: Struggling to Publish and Struggling to Remain Optimistic

The Albany Patriot’s creed in 1864 was “Our Country’s Independence,” but a more appropriate one probably would have been: “Struggling to Publish and Struggling to Remain Optimistic.” With the January 21, 1864 issue McCarthy announced he had sold the Patriot to Fears, a former resident of Albany who had moved to Macon. The spring brought new confidence in the outcome of the war — even as the Union Army posed a grave threat to Georgia. News of the war unquestionably dominated the pages of the Patriot. As the fighting in the state dragged on, the Patriot’s sources for news became less and less reliable. The Patriot continued publishing until 1866 when it closed for good. Seen from a late twentieth century viewpoint, the disparity between what appeared on the pages of the Patriot and what was taking place on the war’s battlefields is obvious.