George Alfred Townsend (January 30, 1841 - April 15, 1914), was a noted war correspondent

War correspondent

A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, and a later novelist. Townsend wrote under the pen name "Gath", which was derived by adding an "H" to his initials, and inspired by the biblical passage II Samuel 1:20, "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askalon."

Biography

Townsend was born in Georgetown, Delaware

Georgetown, Delaware

Georgetown is a town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to 2010 census figures, the population of the town is 6,422, an increase of 38.3% over the previous decade...

, on January 30, 1841. He originally wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and in 1861 he moved to the New York Herald

New York Herald

The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...

. He is considered to have been the youngest correspondent of the war. In 1865, Townsend was Washington correspondent for the New York World

New York World

The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...

, covering the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln assassination

The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...

 and its aftermath. His daily reports filed between April 17 – May 17 were published later in 1865 as a book, The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, reprinted in 1977.

Immediately following the war, he married Elizabeth Evans Rhodes of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. He established and edited, with former Civil War general Abram S. Piatt

Abram S. Piatt

Abram Sanders Piatt was a wealthy farmer, publisher, poet, politician, and soldier from southern Ohio who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He organized the only zouave regiment from Ohio and later led a brigade in the Army of the Potomac...

, the Capital at Washington, D.C., in 1871.

In 1884 Townsend began building a baronial estate in the Catoctin Mountains called Gathland

Gathland State Park

Gathland State Park is a small state park located near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. The park is composed of the remains of the estate of George Alfred Townsend , a correspondent during the American Civil War who wrote under the pen name "Gath"...

 (or "Gapland"), near Burkittsville, Maryland

Burkittsville, Maryland

Burkittsville is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 171 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Burkittsville is located at ....

. Gathland was built on the site of the Battle of Crampton's Gap

Battle of Crampton's Gap

The Battle of Crampton's Gap or Battle of Burkittsville was a battle fought between forces under Confederate Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb and Union Maj. Gen. William B...

, and is in close proximity to the battlefields of South Mountain

Battle of South Mountain

The Battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B...

 and Antietam

Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...

. The estate was composed of several buildings, including Gapland Hall, Gapland Lodge, the Den and Library Building, and a mausoleum (notable for its inscription of "Good Night Gath"). In 1896, Townsend built the War Correspondents' Memorial Arch

Gathland State Park

Gathland State Park is a small state park located near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. The park is composed of the remains of the estate of George Alfred Townsend , a correspondent during the American Civil War who wrote under the pen name "Gath"...

, the first such monument to war journalists.

His novels included The Entailed Hat (1884), which fictionalized a true story of a woman named Patty Cannon

Patty Cannon

Martha "Patty" Cannon was the leader of a gang in the early 19th century that kidnapped slaves and free blacks from the Delmarva Peninsula and transported and sold them to plantation owners located further south. Later accounts of her life refer to her as Lucretia P...

 who kidnapped free blacks and sold them into slavery. Townsend's other works include the short story collection Tales of the Chesapeake (1880) and the novel Katy of Catoctin (1887).

The Gathland estate is now Gathland State Park

Gathland State Park

Gathland State Park is a small state park located near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. The park is composed of the remains of the estate of George Alfred Townsend , a correspondent during the American Civil War who wrote under the pen name "Gath"...

. Several buildings still stand, including Gapland Hall (which is the park headquarters) and the mausoleum.

Townsend left Gathland in 1911, and died three years later in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. He was buried in Philadelphia.

External links

• George Alfred Townsend Collection at University of Delaware Library
• Works by George Alfred Townsend at Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
   (scanned books original editions illustrated color)
• George Alfred Townsend Works
• Works by George Alfred Townsend at Google Books (scanned books original editions illustrated)