John Moncure Daniel

John Moncure Daniel (1825-1865), of Richmond, Virginia, was the United States minister to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1854-1861. However, he is best known for his role as the executive editor of the Richmond Examiner, one of the chief newspapers of the Confederate States of America. Editorials written by Daniel and his editorial board have served as source materials for historians of the American Civil War.

John Moncure Daniel was born in Stafford County, Virginia on October 24, 1825. He was the son of physician Dr. John M. Daniel and Eliza Mitchell Daniel. Early in life young John discovered a talent for journalism and moved south within his native state to Richmond, Virginia. In 1847, he became one of the first writers for a weekly paper, the Richmond Examiner. Soon, he became a leading writer for the paper, and then editor. As the editor, he became a patron of Edgar Allan Poe, and published several of his poems.

Daniel, as an editor aligned with the Democratic Party, was appointed in 1853 by the administration of President Franklin Pierce as the United States diplomat to the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1853, Sardinia was a nation within Italy with its capital at Turin. Daniel was titled the chargé d'affaires for the first year of his time in Turin; in 1854, his title was advanced to minister. He was thus present in Italy during the Second Italian War of Independence, when Italian patriots united to secede from the Austrian Empire and create a new country of their own. For Daniel, this was an inspiring sight. His diplomatic stint ended in January 1861.

Back home in Richmond, Daniel re-established his editorial control over the Examiner, which had become a daily periodical. He and many other leading white citizens of Richmond were strong supporters of Southern secession from the United States, and their enthusiasm grew when the new Confederate States of America (CSA) chose Richmond as the fledgling nation's capital city. Daniel looked forward to his paper becoming a leading organ of the new slave-state republic.

...
Wikipedia