Civil War: Battle of Gettysburg Newspaper Coverage in 1863

Civil War: Battle of Gettysburg Newspaper Coverage in 1863

884 full sheet newspaper pages, from the North, South, East and West with coverage of the prelude, fighting and aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. The papers date from June 22, 1863, to July 16, 1863. In and around the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1st to 3rd. On July 4th the Confederate Army retreated.

The Battle of Gettysburg is credited as deadliest battle of the Civil War. In three days approximately 23,000 Union and 28,000 Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. The Union victory ended General Robert E. Lee's second and most ambitious invasion into Northern territory.

Much of the newspaper reporting was done from Harrisburg, PA, because that is where many newspaper reporters believed the Confederate army was headed. The newspapers begin covering the movements of Confederate forces northward as early as June 22. Much speculation is given to Confederate goals and tactics.

Coverage is given to Union preparations for the upcoming battle, including a wide range given to the number of reinforcements being sent to the region by President Lincoln. One newspaper report says that Confederate General Ewell had prohibited liquor sellers in Chambersburg from selling alcohol to Confederate soldiers, "without written permission from a Maj.-General."

After the battle was over many southern newspapers attempted to spin the war events in as favorable a way possible for the Confederacy. Many reported Gettysburg as being a "draw" and highlighted the number of Union soldiers killed or captured and the amount of Union equipment seized.

Interesting reporting in this collection can be found from Virginia’s Alexandria Gazette.  Just days after Virginia succeeded from the Union, on May 24, 1861, Federal troops marched into Alexandria, Virginia and took control of the city. The Gazette's publishing was suspended the next day. After Federal troops moved into the city, Union Col. Orlando Wilcox approached the Gazette's editor Edgar Snowden demanding that a proclamation of martial law be printed in his paper. 

Snowden choose to shut down the newspaper, instead of publishing the notice. This led to Federal troops seizing the office of the Gazette, demolishing property and looting bonds and certificates. Soon the newspaper's office was burned down. For five months, the city of Alexandria was without a newspaper.

The Alexandria Gazette resumed publication on May 13, 1862, in a definitely Southern city occupied by Union forces. It continued publishing during the war until October 31, 1864, when Snowden was arrested by Union military authorities. The Gazette resumed publication on January 3, 1865 and has been in print since.

 
Newspapers in this collection include: 

New York Daily Tribune 

Chicago Daily Tribune

Evening Star (Washington, DC)

Richmond Whig (Richmond, VA)

Richmond Enquirer (Richmond, VA)

Union County Star and Lewisburg Chronicle (Lewisburg, PA)

North Branch Democrat (Tunkhannock, PA)

Daily National Republican (Washington, DC)

The Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA)

Alexandria Gazette (Union Occupied Alexandria, VA)

The Chattanooga Daily Rebel (Chattanooga, TN)

Clearfield Republican (Clearfield, PA)

The Abingdon Virginian (Abingdon, VA)

The Alleghanian (Ebensburg, PA)

The Free South (Beaufort, SC)

Baltimore Wecker (Baltimore, MD)

National Intelligencer (Washington, DC)

The Nashville Daily Union (Nashville, TN)

The Western Democrat (Charlotte, N.C.)

The Daily Green Mountain Freeman (Montpelier, VT)

Daily State Sentinel (Indianapolis, IN)

Daily Ohio Statesman (Columbus, OH) 

Hammond Gazette (Point Lookout, MD)

The Potter Journal (Coudersport, PA)

Weekly Standard (Raleigh, NC)

Nebraska Advertiser (Brownville, Nebraska Territory)

West-Jersey Pioneer (Bridgeton, NJ)

Cleveland Morning Leader

Memphis Daily Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Raftsman's Journal (Clearfield, PA)

The Bedford Gazette (Bedford, PA)

Der Lecha Caunty Patriot (Allentaun, PA)

Sunbury American (Sunbury, PA)

Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg General Advertiser (Bloomsburg, PA)

Democrat and Sentinel (Ebensburg, PA)
 

In the June 22, 1863, New York Heard an article appears titled, "The Theatre of War In Virginia - The Latest Movements." It reads, "Our telegraphic dispatch from Harrisburg throws some light upon the movements of Lee. It appears that on Saturday evening Jenkins, with his mounted Infantry, pawed through Greencastle, in the direction of Waynesboro, which suggests Gettysburg and the Northern Central Railroad as the destination."

On June 24, 1863, Raleigh North Carolina's Weekly Standard published on its front page:

"It seems that the advance of Gen. Lee's army has crossed the Potomac, and is in Maryland, threatening Pennsylvania. The authorities of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New York are greatly excited, and are making preparations to defend their territory. President Lincoln has called for 100,000 men to repel the threatened invasion.

The advance of Gen. Lee's army, it seems, crossed the Potomac, taking Winchester and Martinsburg in their way, at Williamsport, which is about twenty miles above Harper's Ferry, and ten miles above the old battle ground of Sharpsburg. The exact position of the main body of Gen. Lee's army is not known, nor that of Gen. Hooker's. It is hardly probable, however, that the latter will retire across the Potomac without giving battle, though the panic which appears to have seized the Northern authorities may hurry him over to the defence of Washington."

The June 27 Chicago Tribune on its front page reported under the headlines GETTYSBURG AND CARLISLE IN THEIR POSSESSION and THEY DESIGN ATTACKING WASHINGTON, "The whole of Longstreet's corps had crossed the Potomac, and is advancing in the same direction into Pennsylvania. But few rebel troops were yesterday at Hagerstown; all having gone to Pennsylvania. Lee and staff are certainly on this side of the Potomac."

On June 27 the Sunbury American published in Sunbury, PA, printed, "A deserter from a Georgia regiment came into Gettysburg. He reports that fifty of his comrades had deserted in a body. He locates the whole of Ewell's corps around Hagerstown, but says it consists of six brigades and numbers only twelve thousand men."

After the first day of fighting the New York Heard on July 2nd published cautious notions about the outcome of the battle stating on its front page:

"There was some apprehension in Washington yesterday that the army of General Lee might make a line of retreat from Maryland and reach the federal capital before the army of General Meade can intercept it. Some hopes were entertained that General Meade might be able to strike the rebel on the flank, and thus prevent them from reaching Washington. The good fighting qualities of General Meade are relied upon to effect this object. The army are reported to be willing to suffer any fatigue within the power of human endurance. General Meade has issued a circular, urging upon the commanders of army corps, divisions and brigades to explain to their men the "immense issues" involved in the coming conflict. Homes, firesides, and domestic altars, he says, are in danger. The enemy is on our own soil... He authorizes all commanding officers to order the instant death of any soldier who fails to do his duty."

On the morning of July 3rd, the Richmond Whig begins with an editorial about restitution it believes was owed to Virginians by the North for war damages to the state. It states that repayment for losses should be demanded during peace negotiations, "Five hundred millions of dollars would ill requite our people for the actual losses sustained by them in the shape of abducted slaves, the desolation of property, the plunder of all that was valuable in affluent homes to which they had penetrated."

In Virginia, the July 10th Richmond Enquirer was still holding out for news of a Confederate victory at Gettysburg. From its front page, "We have nothing later than Saturday evening from the battle field at Gettysburg. All are confident of our final success."