Truth, Rumor & Headlines from Gettysburg
How the Press Reported the Turning Point of the Civil War: One of the very first news story reporting on the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 – 3, 1863) was penned on the porch of a tavern in Taneytown, Maryland (about 13 miles South of Gettysburg). Reporter Lorenzo Livingstone Crounse of the New York Times wrote this:
Near Gettysburg, July 1 – A heavy engagement has been going on since nine o’clock this A.M. between the rebel forces of Longstreet and Hill and the First and Eleventh corps, under Gens. Reynolds and Meade. The locality of the fight is beyond Gettysburg, on the Chambersburg Pike. Portions of the fight have been very severe, and attended with heavy loss. Thus far the onset of the enemy has been successfully resisted, and the Third and Twelfth are now coming up. I regret to say that Major Gen. Reynolds was mortally wounded, and has since died.
Some of the details in this dispatch were inaccurate. Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet was not yet on the field, and U.S. Maj. Gen. George Meade was not commanding the Eleventh Corps. Nevertheless, this was actually a good, accurate, summary of the developing battle situation. Many other reporters’ stories would not come this close to the truth.
About forty-five newspapermen were on hand at Gettysburg between July 1 and 3. One was the editor of the local Gettysburg paper, the Adams Sentinel, who got to report on his home turf. Nine were Southern reporters embedded with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. One of those, Virgil A. S. Parks, who served as a regular correspondent to the Savannah Republican, was killed in the battle (Parks also served as an officer in the 17th Georgia Infantry). Two Northern reporters were captured by the Confederates. Crounse, the Times reporter mentioned above, would have his horse shot out from under him during the fighting on July 2.
Fighting downed or nonexistent telegraph lines, disrupted railroad links, and wartime censorship, these combat reporters desperately competed with each other to file breaking news stories with their newspaper employers. They tracked the movement of the armies before the battle for the benefit of their anxious readers. They told of the effect of the rebel invasion upon (and treatment of) civilians, including free African Americans. Most importantly, these intrepid field correspondents recounted the progress of the battle, ultimately bringing word of the glorious—at least to the North—result in time for the celebration of Independence Day.
However, while many of the reporters got the facts right, other reports coming out of Gettysburg missed the mark. One early report claimed that Meade’s Army of the Potomac had thoroughly crushed Lee, taking over 20,000 prisoners and 118 cannon. Others reported that Longstreet, Lee’s second in command, had been killed. Some said he was captured. By contrast, a Southern report claimed that the battle was still going on as late as July 5, resulting in Meade fleeing towards Baltimore after losing 40,000 men as prisoners.
Northern reports reached both the Northern public and the South earlier than reports filed by reporters with Lee’s army. The different audiences assessed the news differently, and it took some time for the truth to become known and absorbed by each side.
To explore this fascinating story of both accurate battle reporting and “fake news,” Gettysburg style, the Roanoke Civil War Round Table presents Alex Burke.
Mr. Burke, a former Assistant Director of the Salem Museum & Historical Society, Roanoke College (B.A., History) graduate and popular speaker on Civil War and other local history topics, is a native son local history expert whose research into his subjects results in fascinating talks.
Date, Time & Location: Tuesday, November 10, 2026 (7:00 pm), Chapel of the Residents’ Center at Friendship North, 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, VA, 24012. Admission $5.00 for Non-Round Table Members (and becoming a Round Table member is welcome).
