Newspaper Articles about the American Civil War

Newspapers furnished extensive coverage of the American Civil War, with eyewitness correspondents providing uncensored, on-the-spot military reporting. In addition, newspapers printed letters to and from the fighting men, as well as lists of battle casualties, battlefield sketches, maps, wide-ranging news stories, editorials, political cartoons, and advertisements. Reading Civil War-era newspaper articles is an interesting way to see how the news was presented and perceived while the war itself was ongoing, as the following examples show. These articles highlight some of the major events and figures during this devastating four-year conflict that killed more than 620,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians; click on any of the following titles to read more.

1860

Dec. 20: South Carolina’s Secession Opens Path to Civil War

1861

Jan. 9: Attack upon ‘Star of the West’–Actual First Shot of the Civil War?
Jan. 9: Mississippi Becomes Second State to Secede from the Union
Jan. 21: Jefferson Davis Resigns from the U.S. Senate after Miss. Secedes
Jan. 29: Kansas Statehood Marked by Violence
Feb. 4: Confederate States of America: The Beginning
Feb. 8: Confederate States of America Adopt Provisional Constitution
Feb. 9: Jefferson Davis Elected Provisional President of the Confederacy
Feb. 11: U.S. House Promises: No Interference with Slavery
Feb. 18: Jefferson Davis Inaugurated as Provisional President of the Confederacy
March 1: Revolutionary War Veteran Laments Secession of South Carolina
March 11: Constitution of the Confederate States of America Adopted
March 21: Torn Allegiance for German-Americans before Attack on Fort Sumter
March 24: Touching Letters between Scotch Friends before Battle of Fort Sumter
April 4: Optimistic Letter from Fort Sumter: Civil War Propaganda?
April 6: Letter from Charleston Six Days before Fort Sumter Attack
April 8-12: Confederate Telegrams Leading to Fort Sumter Attack
April 9: Wall Street Despairs at Approach of Civil War
April 10: Excited Letter from Charleston on Eve of Fort Sumter Attack
April 12: Dramatic Newspaper Coverage of the Battle of Fort Sumter
April 12: Negotiations Fail: Fort Sumter Attack Begins the Civil War
April 12: Abolitionist Newspaper Slams South on Eve of Civil War
April 13: Fort Sumter Surrenders, Ending the Civil War’s First Battle
April 13: Southern Chivalry during Civil War’s Opening Battle
April 13: Pessimistic Northern Editorial as Civil War Begins
April 15: U.S. Capital Prepares for War after Fall of Fort Sumter
April 17: Confederate President Davis Encourages Privateers
April 18: Letter Describes Excitement of Louisiana Confederates
April 19: Baltimore Mob Riots, Attacks Union Troops
April 20: Robert E. Lee Quits U.S. Army to Serve Virginia
April 28: Letter Reveals Southern ‘War Spirit’ as Civil War Begins
April 29: Women in the North Rally to Lincoln’s Call
May 17: Union Soldier Describes Daily Life in Civil War Camp
June 8: Tennessee Secedes: Last State to Join the Confederacy
July 18: Undisciplined Union Troops at First Battle of Bull Run
July 19: News Reports Two Days before First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
July 20: Impatient North Pressures Lincoln for Action before Civil War’s First Major Battle
July 21: Confederates Rout Union Army at First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
July 21: N.Y. Crowds React to News of First Battle of Bull Run
July 22: Northern Newspaper Reports Defeat at First Battle of Bull Run
July 23: Scathing Northern Editorial after the First Battle of Bull Run
July 24: Editorial Celebrates Confederate Victory at First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)
July 26: After Defeat of First Bull Run, Lincoln Turns to McClellan
Aug. 10: Wilson’s Creek: Confederates Win First Major Battle in the West
Aug. 10: Gray-Clad Union Troops Cause Confusion at Battle of Wilson’s Creek
Nov. 1: A Worried Lincoln Appoints McClellan Head of All Union Armies
Nov. 8-Dec. 27: ‘Trent Affair’ Crisis during the U.S. Civil War
Dec. 21: Union Backs Down from War with England

1862

Jan. 3: Editorial: After Trent Affair, Confederacy Must Depend on Itself
Jan. 10: Southern Paper Mocks ‘Lincolnite Diplomacy’ after Trent Affair
Jan. 30: Civil War Ironclad USS ‘Monitor’ Launched
Feb. 6: Battle of Fort Henry: Lincoln Finally Gets the Major Union Victory He Needs
Feb. 6: Ironclads Blast Flooded Defenders in Battle of Fort Henry
Feb. 16: Gen. Grant Gives the Union Its Second Major Victory: The Battle of Fort Donelson
Feb. 22: Confederacy Resolute after First Two Big Losses of Civil War
Feb. 22: Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s Inaugural Address
Feb. 24: King Cotton? No, Says This Confederate’s Letter
Feb. 28: Confederate Day of ‘Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer’
March 7-8: The Battle of Pea Ridge: Missouri Lost to the Confederate Cause
March 8-9: The Battle of Hampton Roads: Historic First Clash of Ironclad Warships
March 24: A Confederate Soldier Writes Home
April 5: Battle of Yorktown: Confederate Trickery Fools Yanks
April 6-7: The Battle of Shiloh: Bloody Civil War Clash Shocks America
April 6: Battle of Shiloh: Union Army Caught Napping
April 6: Heroic Death of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston: Severe Blow to the Confederacy
April 6: Dashing Confederate General Slain at Battle of Shiloh
April 25: Confederacy’s Greatest City, New Orleans, Falls to Union Forces without a Shot
April 28: Confederate Troops Mutiny and Surrender Battered Forts
May 24: Fiery Letter from a ‘Nashville She Rebel’
June 4: Memphis Falls after Confederates Abandon Fort Pillow
June 20: Civil War Poem by Northern Patriot
Aug. 22: Abraham Lincoln’s Firm Answer to Greeley’s 1st Scolding Letter
Aug. 24: Horace Greeley Challenges Lincoln to Free the South’s Slaves
Aug. 28-30: Confederacy Wins Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
Aug. 29: Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas): Fierce Fighting on Day 2
Aug. 30: Northern and Southern Reaction to Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas)
Sept. 17: The Battle of Antietam: America’s Bloodiest One-Day Battle
Sept. 20: Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to Jefferson Davis, President to President
Sept. 22: President Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation
Dec. 11: Battle of Fredericksburg: Controversial Shelling of the City
Dec. 12: Civil War Ironclad ‘Cairo’ Sunk by Electronic Mine
Dec. 18: Anger at Lincoln Administration for Mismanaging the War
Dec. 19: Southern Editorial Condemns Lincoln after Fredericksburg
Dec. 31: USS 'Monitor,' Famous Union Ironclad, Sunk by Rough Seas

1863

Jan. 1: The Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln Frees the Confederacy’s Slaves
March 15: Confederate Hymn for 1863 ‘Fast Day’ Pleads for End to Civil War
May 2: Gen. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson Mistakenly Shot by Confederate Troops
May 10: The Confederacy Mourns the Death of ‘Stonewall’ Jackson
July 1-3: The Battle of Gettysburg: Three Desperate, Bloody Days
July 1-3: Gettysburg Battlefield Horror
July 1-4: Fremantle’s Fascinating Details from the Gettysburg Campaign
July 1: A Reporter on the Scene, Day 1, Battle of Gettysburg
July 3: Pickett’s Charge: Turning Point for the Civil War
July 4: Gen. Longstreet Keeps His Sense of Humor
July 4: Lincoln’s Speech Celebrating the Surrender of Vicksburg
July 13: Civil War Draft Riots: Mob Violence in New York City
Sept. 19: Confederates Stop Retreating and Fight: Battle of Chickamauga Begins
Sept. 19: Battle of Chickamauga: Reports of the First Day’s Fighting
Sept. 20: Battle of Chickamauga Ends with Confederate Victory
Sept. 22: Northern Editorials after the Battle of Chickamauga
Nov. 19: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: Short but Enduring Speech

1864

Jan. 4: Civil War Drama: ‘Colored’ Troops Freeing Southern Slaves
June 3: Battle of Cold Harbor: Union Assault Mowed Down by Confederates
July 30: The Civil War’s Horrific ‘Battle of the Crater’
Aug. 31-Sept. 1: Battle of Jonesborough: Final Assault on Atlanta
Sept. 2: Atlanta Falls: Severe Blow to the Confederacy
Oct. 7: U.S. Civil War Battle—in Brazil?
Oct. 19: Eyewitness Report of Civil War Attack—in Vermont!
Oct. 31: Nevada Becomes a State as Civil War Rages
Nov. 8: Surprising Amount of Opposition to Lincoln’s Reelection
Nov. 15: Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea’ Devastates the Confederacy

1865

Jan. 13: Tennessee Convention Bans Slavery after ‘Spicy Debate’
Feb. 20: Lincoln Pleads for Peace in War-torn Missouri
April 9: Confederate General Robert E. Lee Surrenders
April 14-15: Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln!
April 26: John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s Assassin, Shot Dead
June 23: Last Rebel Army Surrenders: General Stand Watie and the Cherokees
June 23: Confederate Cherokees Starving as Civil War Ends
June 28: Its Task Completed, the Army of the Potomac Is Disbanded
Nov. 6: Confederate Warship ‘Shenandoah’ Finally Surrenders
Nov. 10: Leader of Confederacy’s Andersonville Prison Executed for War Crimes

1946

Jan. 24: Civil War’s Last Rebel Town Rejoins the Union—in 1946!