The Press During the Civil War

From the first shots fired at Fort Sumter to the bloody battle at Antietam, the Civil war was a pivotal historical event in American history that has permanently shaped this country. What would such a huge occurrence in history such as the Civil war be without critics, and of course, journalist? People had to take their sides. Some were for the war some against it, some were team Union some were team Confederate.

Journalist during the Civil war would go so far as to risk their own lives to get the inside scoop on the war. George Smally of the New York Tribune was so close to one of the battles that his horse had been hit by gunfire. There was intense competition among journalist to get their story published in the newspaper. Smally was supportive of the union being that he was from the North. On the other hand, a journalist named Peter Wellington Alexander was from the south. Alexander was a reporter for the Savannah Republican. In one article he described the poor condition that confederate soldiers were in.

Modern day journalist play a role in preserving history and recounting the events of the war. Ford Risley published an article that discusses in depth, journalism during the Civil War, the types of stories that would be published, illustrations and artwork that is used in such publications, and technological developments during the time. You can read what else Ford Risley has to say on this topic here!

The Pennsylvania press was quite popular during war times. In 1861 there were 28  daily and 242 weekly newspapers in the state. In Philadelphia alone there was the Public Ledger, the Inquirer, the Press, the Evening Bulletin, the North American, the Daily News, the Pennsylvanian, and the Evening Journal. Some interesting figures in Pennsylvania journalism are William W. Harding, James P. Barr and George Sanderson.1 There was a good amount of democratic influence in these newspapers.

Source

1. Andrews, J. Cutler. “THE PENNSYLVANIA PRESS DURING THE CIVIL WAR.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 1942, pp. 22–36. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27766494. Accessed 6 May 2020.