Junius and Albert's Adventures in the Confederacy

March 11, 2013
Modern journalists scrambling to file before deadline have nothing on Junius Browne and Albert Richardson. While working as Civil War correspondents for Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune, the duo were captured during the Battle of Vicksburg and spent 20 months in Confederate prisons before escaping behind Union lines. Like the late conflict photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, who lived with close colleagues in a Brooklyn apartment dubbed “the kibbutz,” the sardonic Junius and gregarious Albert had their own clique of battle-minded journos known as the “Bohemian Brigade,” and though they were determined “to extract as much fun as possible from the grim business of war,” the pair’s luck ran out while trying to avoid the danger of blazing cannon by floating atop hay bales down the Mississippi. Former Washington Post reporter Carlson (K Blows Top) relates their ensuing odyssey in lively detail, from stints in multiple prisons, to an encounter with a certified pirate, a secret society called the “Heroes of America,” and an escape and flight over snowy mountains. Civil War buffs and historians of journalism will revel in this thrilling tale of two raucous, self-described “knights of the quill.” 2 photos & 2 maps. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group.