Fighting Them Over: How the Veterans Remembered Gettysburg in the Pages of The National Tribune. Ed. by Richard Sauers, hc, dj, 527pp., index.

Fighting Them Over; How the Veterans Remembered Gettysburg in the Pages of The National Tribune

Edited by Richard A. Sauers

The National Tribune was a poser-war newspaper that catered to Civil War veterans. Former soldiers were encouraged to submit articles describing their wartime experiences and thousands of these personal accounts were published. Contributors, primarily Union veterans, ranged in rank from privates to generals, and their material covered a wide array of topics.

Gettysburg was an especially popular theme. Scores of men who saw action in that epic battle used the National Tribune as a forum to explain their parts in the battle or the roles of their regiments. These writings were often detailed accounts and included material not found elsewhere. Frequently, debates erupted that ran their course through several issues of the paper.

Included in this compilation are 143 of the best articles that appeared in the National Tribune. They encompass the entire campaign, from Ewellís success at Winchester to Leeís recrossing the Potomac. This book presents the battle of Gettysburg through the eyes of the men who were there. From the accounts of these participants, todayís readers can more fully appreciate and understand the men who fought and the events that transpired during those three, crucial, deadly days in July 1863.