The Confederate Congress has passed a desperate financial measure in secret session to raise $3 million in coin for army supplies, with President Jefferson Davis's approval. The plan allows the Treasury Secretary to borrow from banks or individuals, securing repayment with government-owned cotton and tobacco, or impose a crushing 25% tax on all gold, silver, and foreign exchange if the borrowing fails. The front page also reveals failed peace negotiations between Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Lee had proposed a military convention to discuss ending hostilities, but Grant firmly rejected the overture, stating he had 'no authority to accede to your proposition' — only President Lincoln could authorize such discussions. Amid these dire military and financial straits, the paper includes a stirring 'Patriotic Exhortation to the South' from an unnamed Confederate woman, urging her countrymen to persevere despite mounting casualties and hardships. The page also carries routine military promotions, warnings about counterfeit Confederate bills stolen by Union forces in Columbia, and updates on Sherman's continued march through the Carolinas.

This March 20, 1865 edition captures the Confederacy in its final death throes, just three weeks before Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The secret borrowing act reveals the South's complete financial collapse — they're literally trying to tax citizens' last remaining hard currency at 25%. The failed Lee-Grant correspondence shows Confederate leadership desperately seeking any way out of inevitable defeat, while Grant's cold rejection demonstrates Union confidence in total victory. These events unfold as Sherman devastates the Carolinas and Grant tightens his grip around Richmond. Within days, Davis would flee the Confederate capital, and Lee would begin his final retreat toward Appomattox Court House.

• Confederate soldiers were selling captured opium on Charleston streets for five dollars a pound — the South lost 1,000 ounces of quinine and 100 pounds of opium when Columbia fell
• The newspaper warns readers to watch for counterfeit $20 and $100 Confederate bills that Union forces distributed freely in Columbia without signatures attached
• A Union spy named Thomas C. Echoles, described as 'about 5 feet 5 inches high, thick-set, blue eyes, sandy hair' and of 'Dutch origin,' escaped from a Confederate court-martial in Lynchburg between 10 and 12 o'clock on Tuesday night
• Subscription rates reveal the Confederacy's hyperinflation: the daily paper cost $16 per year, while the weekly was $10 — astronomical sums when Confederate currency was nearly worthless
• The paper notes that Columbia's new State House survived Union occupation almost intact, with only 'the breaking of a piece of the cornice' and mutilation of eagle beaks on busts

• Gold mentioned in the paper had declined to 178 (against the dollar) — but Confederate currency was so worthless that by war's end, it took $1,200 in Confederate bills to buy what $1 in gold could purchase
• The Rev. Mr. Meynard mentioned as captured in Lancaster was likely part of Charleston's prominent religious community — the city's churches would play crucial roles in post-war Reconstruction efforts
• General Longstreet, who carried Lee's peace overtures to Union lines, would later become a Republican and serve under President Grant — making him one of the most hated men in the post-war South
• Sherman's march 'from Fayetteville' mentioned here was his final push toward joining Grant — within three weeks, these two Union commanders would effectively end the Civil War
• The 'White House' reference for Sheridan joining Grant refers to White House Landing on the Pamunkey River, not the presidential residence — it was a key Union supply depot during the Peninsula Campaign