RARE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG NEWSPAPER/BROADSIDE An extremely rare, probably one-of-a-kind Confederate newspaper, the Weekly Type of the Times, Port Gibson, Miss., June 26, 1862, a single-sided newspaper printed on thin "adversity" paper measuring 9" x 14", very possibly posted as a broadside. Port Gibson is inland from the Mississippi River, just southwest of Vicksburg, and this paper was printed on the day that Adm. David Farragut's fleet commenced its bombardment of the besieged city. The sheet's left column screams: "Battle of Benjamin Hollow Run! 25,000 Killed and Wounded Hairbreadth Escapes of Scouts! " It continues, reporting that seven transports had been seen on the river and had soon landed 5,000 men who apparently were seeking provisions. Fighting soon breaks out: "...the militia were cut off from the main body of our army, and have been annihilated...our army 'falling back'...Yankees are concentrating their forces on the opposite side of the Bayou...with the intention of marching on this place. Horses in great demand...Yankees have disappeared. Some suppose they sank out of sight in the mud...[a scout reports] Yankees saw, and fired on him...not a hair on his head was touched, but every corn stalk around him was cut to the ground! Another of our scouts was actually captured...he seized a corn stalk and broke all their necks, after which he made good his escape there is no loss of life on our side...it is supposed the Yankees must have killed at least twenty-five thousand gnats... ". The paper also reports on rumors of a large body of English soldiers arriving soon to aide the Confederacy, cotton prices, and so on, with almost half of the sheet devoted to notices of runaway slaves having been captured and now waiting in jail for return to their owners. Typical toning and light soiling, a few wrinkles, with one cleanly-closed tear, else very good. We have never seen any edition of this newspaper/broadside, and believe it to be the only such example existing. Of course, it's reporting was based on rumors and conjecture - in actuality, Farragut's fleet was bound for Vicksburg, further north on the Mississippi. $800-1,200