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Charles Anderson Dana (August 8, 1819 – October 17, 1897) was an American journalist, author, and senior government official. He was a top aide to Horace Greeley as the managing editor of the powerful Republican newspaper '' New-York Tribune'' until 1862. During the American Civil War, he served as Assistant Secretary of War, playing especially the role of the liaison between the War Department and General
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
. In 1868 he became the editor and part-owner of The New York ''Sun''. He at first appealed to working class Democrats but after 1890 became a champion of business-oriented conservatism. Dana was an avid art collector of paintings and porcelains and boasted of being in possession of many items not found in several European museums.


Early life

Dana was born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire on August 8, 1819. He was a descendant of Richard Dana, progenitor of most of the Danas in the United States, who emigrated from England, settled in Cambridge in 1640, and died there about 1695. At the age of twelve, Charles Dana became a clerk in his uncle's general store at Buffalo, until the store failed in 1837. At this time, he began the study of
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
grammar, and prepared himself for college. In 1839 he entered Harvard, but the impairment of his eyesight forced him to leave college in 1841. He also abandoned his intentions to study in Germany and enter the ministry. From September 1841 until March 1846 he lived at Brook Farm, where he was made one of the trustees of the farm, was head waiter when the farm became a Fourierite
phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...
, and was in charge of the Phalanx's finances when its buildings were burned in 1846. During his time with Brook Farm, he also wrote for the Transcendental publication, the ''Harbinger''. In 1846, he married widow Eunice Macdaniel.


Journalism

Dana had written for and managed the ''Harbinger'', the Brook Farm publication, devoted to social reform and general literature. Later, beginning 1844, he also wrote for and edited the Boston ''Chronotype'' of
Elizur Wright Elizur Wright III (12 February 1804 – 22 November 1885) was an American mathematician and abolitionist. He is sometimes described in the United States as "the father of life insurance", or "the father of insurance regulation", as he campaigned ...
for two years. In 1847 he joined the staff of the ''
New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...
'', and in 1848 he wrote from Europe letters to it and other papers on the revolutionary movements of that year. In
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
he visited
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and
Ferdinand Freiligrath Ferdinand Freiligrath (17 June 1810 – 18 March 1876) was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator, who is considered part of the Young Germany movement. Life Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher. ...
. (From 1852 to 1861, Marx was one of the main writers for the
New York Daily Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dom ...
). Returning to the ''Tribune'' in 1849, Dana became a proprietor and its managing editor, and in this capacity actively promoted the anti-slavery cause, seeming to shape the paper's policy at a time when Horace Greeley was undecided and vacillating. However, his writing expressed racist feelings towards blacks on at least one occasion. In 1895, as editor of the New York Sun, he wrote "we are in the midst of a growing menace," the year of eventual black heavy weight champion Jack Johnson's first professional fight. "The black man is rapidly forging to the front ranks in athletics, especially in the field of fisticuffs. We are in the midst of a black rise against white supremacy." The extraordinary influence and circulation attained by the newspaper during the ten years preceding the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
was in a degree due to the development of Dana's genius for journalism, reflected not only in the making of the ''Tribune'' as a newspaper, but also in the management of its staff of writers, and in the steadiness of its policy as the leading organ of anti-slavery sentiment. In 1861, Dana went to Albany to advance the cause of Greeley as a candidate for the
U. S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
, and nearly succeeded in nominating him. The caucus was about equally divided between Greeley's friends and those of
William M. Evarts William Maxwell Evarts (February 6, 1818February 28, 1901) was an American lawyer and statesman from New York who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York. He was renowned for his skills as a litig ...
, while
Ira Harris Ira Harris (May 31, 1802December 2, 1875) was an American jurist and senator from New York. He was also a friend of Abraham Lincoln. Life Ira Harris was born in Charleston, New York on May 31, 1802. He grew up on a farm, and graduated from Unio ...
had a few votes which held the balance of power. At the instigation of
Thurlow Weed Edward Thurlow Weed (November 15, 1797 – November 22, 1882) was a printer, New York newspaper publisher, and Whig and Republican politician. He was the principal political advisor to prominent New York politician William H. Seward and was i ...
, the supporters of Evarts went over to Harris. During the first year of the war, the ideas of Greeley and those of Dana in regard to the proper conduct of military operations were somewhat at variance; the board of managers of the ''Tribune'' asked for Dana's resignation in 1862, apparently because of this disagreement and wide temperamental differences between him and Greeley.


Civil War

When Dana left the ''Tribune'',
Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
, Edwin Stanton, made him a special commissioner of the War Department during the American Civil War. In this capacity, Dana discovered frauds committed by
quartermasters Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...
and contractors. As the eyes of the administration, as
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
called him, Dana spent much time at the front and sent to War Secretary Edwin Stanton frequent reports concerning the capacity and methods of various generals in the field. In particular, the War Department was concerned about rumors of
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
's alcoholism. Dana spent considerable time with Grant, becoming a close friend and assuaging administration concerns. Dana reported to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that he found Grant, as historian
John D. Winters John David Winters (December 23, 1916 – December 9, 1997)John D. Winters obituary, ''Ruston Daily Leader'', December 10, 1997 was an American historian at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. He is known for his monograph ''T ...
writes, to be "modest, honest, and judicial . . . 'not an original or brilliant man, but sincere, thoughtful, deep, and gifted with a courage that never faltered.' Although quiet and hard to know, he loved a humorous story and the company of his friends." Dana also observed the growing problem of cotton speculators, who were often going beyond established limits into rebel territory with the purpose of trading and often collaborating with the rebels. Dana warned President Lincoln and Stanton that the cotton trading and all related activity needed to be stopped, maintaining that General Grant was in full agreement with his assessment and recommendations. Dana went through the
Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate States of America, Confederate-controlled ...
and was present at the
Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between U.S. and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. ...
and the Chattanooga Campaign. He urged placing General Grant in supreme command of all the armies in the field, which Lincoln did on March 2, 1864. After returning to Washington, Dana received a telegram from assistant Secretary of War H.P. Watson, instructing him to go to Washington to pursue another investigation, and was received by Stanton, who offered him the position of Assistant Secretary of War, which he accepted. It was reported in the New York papers the next morning. Dana held this position from 1863 to 1865. With the likely exception of John Rawlins, Dana had a greater influence over Grant's military career than any other political or military man.


Return to journalism

In 1865–1866, Dana conducted the newly established and unsuccessful Chicago ''Republican,'' when the paper was owned by
Jacob Bunn :''This article concerns John Whitfield Bunn, Jacob Bunn, and the entrepreneurs who were interconnected with the Bunn brothers through association or familial and genealogical connection.'' John Whitfield Bunn (June 21, 1831 – June 7, 1920)Ill ...
, and published by A.W. (Alonzo) Mack (1822-1871). He became the editor and part-owner of '' The Sun'', a New York City newspaper, in 1868, and remained in control of it until his death. Upon taking control of the organization, he announced his credo:
It will study condensation, clearness, point, and will endeavor to present its daily photograph of the whole world's doings in the most luminous and lively manner.
Under Dana's control, ''The Sun'' opposed the impeachment of
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a De ...
; it supported Grant for the presidency in 1868; it was a sharp critic of Grant as president; and in 1872 took part in the Liberal Republican revolt and urged Greeley's nomination. In contrast with "the young Dana
ho was Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to: People Language and ethnicity * Ho people, an ethnic group of India ** Ho language, a tribal language in India * Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam * Hiri M ...
touched by the Transcendental wand, a fiery youth, frank, open, trusting, a believer in the possibility of realizing an ideal society upon earth ... the Dana of the seventies and eighties and nineties asan aging cynic.... fought civil service reform tooth and nail.... He believed in expanding the American republic by wholesale land-grabbing.... He was opposed to the main aims of the labor movement.... Half the time he and the Sun were on the side of the worst politicians in Tammany, and against the reform movements in city government."Nevins, Allan, "The Effects of Greeley on Dana," '' The Journalism Quarterly'', vol. V, no. 2 (June, 1928), pp. 2, 3. Dana made the ''Sun'' a Democratic newspaper, independent and outspoken in the expression of its opinions respecting the affairs of either party. His criticisms of civil maladministration during General Grant's terms as president led to a notable attempt on the part of that administration, in July 1873, to take him from New York on a charge of libel, to be tried without a jury in a
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
police court. Application was made to the
United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district co ...
in New York for a warrant of removal, but in a memorable decision Judge Samuel Blatchford, later a justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
, refused the warrant, holding the proposed form of trial to be unconstitutional. Perhaps to a greater extent than in the case of any other conspicuous journalist, Dana's personality was identified in the public mind with the newspaper that he edited. In 1876, the ''Sun'' favored Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate for the presidency, opposed the Electoral Commission, and continually referred to
Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
as the "fraud president". In 1884 it supported Benjamin Butler, the candidate of Greenback-Labor and Anti-Monopolist parties, for the presidency, and opposed
James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representati ...
( Republican) and even more bitterly
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
(Democrat). Circulation peaked about 150,000, and the advent of
Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the '' St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...
and the ''New York World'' cut deeply into the ''Sun's'' circulation. Dana was a very old-fashioned publisher who distrusted the Linotype and relied not on advertising but on the two-cent cover price for his funding. In 1888 it supported Cleveland and opposed
Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
, although it had bitterly criticized Cleveland's first administration, and was to criticize nearly every detail of his second, with the exception of Federal interference in the Pullman strike of 1894; and in 1896, on the
free silver Free silver was a major economic policy issue in the United States in the late 19th-century. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on-demand, as opposed to strict adhe ...
issue, it opposed
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...
, the Democratic candidate for the presidency. In a word, the ''Sun'' had abandoned its original working-class clientele and was now a staunch supporter of the conservative business community.


Writing

Dana's literary style came to be the style of ''The Sun''—simple, strong, clear, boiled down. He recorded no theories of journalism other than those of common sense and human interest. He was impatient of prolixity, cant, and the conventional standards of news importance. Three of his lectures on journalism were published in 1895 as the ''Art of Newspaper Making''. With George Ripley he edited '' The New American Cyclopaedia'' (1857–1863), reissued as the ''American Cyclopaedia'' in 1873–1876. Dana had an interest in literature. His first book was a volume of stories translated from German, entitled ''The Black Aunt'' (New York and Leipzig, 1848). In 1857, he edited an anthology, ''The Household Book of Poetry''. His translation from German of "Nutcracker and Sugardolly: A Fairy Tale" was published in 1856 by the Philadelphia publisher C.G. Henderson & Co. In addition to translating German, Dana could read the Romance and
Scandinavian language The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is als ...
s. With Rossiter Johnson, he edited, ''Fifty Perfect Poems'' (New York, 1883). Dana edited ''The Life of Ulysses S. Grant: General of the Armies of the United States'', published over his name and that of General James H. Wilson in 1868. His ''Recollections of the Civil War'' and ''Eastern Journeys: Some Notes of Travel in Russia, in the Caucasus, and to Jerusalem'' were published in 1898. Early in his journalism career, in 1849, he wrote a series of newspaper articles in defense of
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
philosopher
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...
and his mutual banking ideas. They were published in collected form in 1896 as ''Proudhon and His Bank of the People'' by
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
, who did so partly to expose Dana's radical past, as Dana had late in life become quite conservative, editorializing against radicals, "reds," and the
free silver Free silver was a major economic policy issue in the United States in the late 19th-century. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on-demand, as opposed to strict adhe ...
movement. This book remains in print today through a Charles H. Kerr Company Publishers edition with an introduction by Paul Avrich.


Art collecting

Dana was an art collector. In 1880 he built a large residence in New York City on the corner of Madison Avenue and 60th Street and furnished it with paintings, tapestries, and Chinese porcelains, giving his greatest attention to his porcelains. He devoted much time and historical study in these areas of art throughout his life. An unnamed connoisseur praised the historical value and quality of items in his collection, noting that "they are not in the British Museum; they are not in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...
; and they are conspicuously absent at
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
."


See also

* Bibliography of the American Civil War * Bibliography of Ulysses S. Grant


References


Citations


Sources

* * * , pp. 373–378. * * * * *


Commentary on sources

* ''Recollections of the Civil War'' was actually written by Ida Tarbell; it is "a biographical essay disguised as a memoir." Guarneri, Carl J., ''Lincoln's Informer'', p. 6. * Historian Allan Nevins wrote that Wilson's biography of Dana "is thoroughly unsatisfactory. It is too brief: it lacks documentation; it gives too much emphasis to Dana's service as Assistant Secretary of War in the Civil War, and too little to his work as editor; and above all, it makes no real effort to explore Dana's personality, to penetrate to the inner life of the man." Nevins, Allan, "The Effects of Greeley on Dana," '' The Journalism Quarterly'', vol. V, no. 2 (June, 1928), p. 1. * On the other hand, Guarneri writes, "In 1907 Dana's wartime colleague James H. Wilson compiled a deeply admiring biography that is important for including unique Civil War anecdotes and now-lost letters." Guarneri, Carl J., ''Lincoln's Informer'', p. 6.


Further reading

* Guarneri, Carl J. ''Lincoln's Informer: Charles A. Dana and the Inside Story of the Union War'' (University Press of Kansas, 2019). * Maihafer, Harry J. ''The General and the Journalists: Ulysses S. Grant, Horace Greeley, and Charles Dana'' (Brassey's, Inc., 1998). * O'Brien, Frank Michael. ''The Story of The Sun: New York, 1833–1918'' (1918
Online at Google
* Steele, Janet E. ''The Sun Shines for All: Journalism and Ideology in the Life of Charles A. Dana'' (Syracuse University Press, 1993). * Stone, Candace. ''Dana and the Sun'' (Dodd, Mead, 1938).


External links

* * *
Mr. Lincoln and New York: Charles A. Dana

Mr. Lincoln's White House: Charles A. Dana
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dana, Charles Anderson 1819 births 1897 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) American abolitionists American lexicographers American male journalists Fourierists Harvard University alumni Illinois Greenbacks Illinois Liberal Republicans Illinois Republicans Managing editors People from Hinsdale, New Hampshire People of New York (state) in the American Civil War People of the Revolutions of 1848 United States Assistant Secretaries of War Journalists from Illinois Journalists from New Hampshire Writers from New York City 19th-century American male writers Activists from New Hampshire 19th-century lexicographers