by Stephen Davis, editor
El Dorado Hills, Ca.: Savas Beatie, 2025. Pp. xx, 316.
Illus., maps, append., notes, biblio., index. $24.95. ISBN: 161121727X
Union Soldies Recall the Struggle for Atlanta
There’s little doubt that from its first issue in 1877 through 1917 (when publication as an independent journal ceased with merger into the original Stars and Stripes), to its end in 1943, The National Tribune was the premier newspaper for Union veterans of the Civil War, circulation perhaps peaking at 250,000. As the editor Stephen Davis, a veteran Civil War scholar, notes, the paper provided Union veterans a way “for those eager to learn about the drama in which they played a role in the war.” (p. 104).
In preparing the book, Davis selected 118 items from the Tribune, all by Union veterans, and organized into 70 thematic chapters. The pages are full of personal tales of experiences in battles, comments on generals, and anecdotes about soldier and sailor life and the minutiae of the service. Some men sought answers about particular events, which often sparked replies, and back-and-forth arguments, many men asked about the whereabouts of former comrades, others offered humorous commentary on military life, even their own veterans’ experience. The paper was also a major force in support of veterans’ claims for pensions.
Beginning as an 8-page monthly at 10¢ per copy or $1.00 for a year's subscription, the paper eventually became a weekly.
Davis not only selected the items included in the book, but offers insightful comments on many of them, and there’s also some commentary from such historians as John Scales, Steven Woodworth, Edward Pollard, and Albert Castel, which are of help in understanding the value of material.
Finally, Davis gives us a history of The National Tribune, both as a newspaper and as a business, from its founding by George E. Lemon through its acquisition by John McElroy in 1879, a Civil War veteran who owned the paper until his death in 1929, and finally to W.L. Mattocks, through its demise in 1943
Surprisingly, despite the great amount of material in The National Tribune, it is an under-used national treasure, in contrast to The Confederate Veteran (1893-1992), which is often cited by scholars. Complete runs of The National Tribune are rare, but it is available online, and a three-volume index compiled by Richard Sauers is available from Savas Beatie.
This is highly recommended for anyone interested the veterans’ experience.
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Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His previous reviews here include, The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War, Gettysburg: The Tide Turns, The Second Manassas Campaign, and Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Valley Forge, Exceptionalism in Crisis, The 14th New York State Militia in the Civil War, Volume 1, From Camp David Douglas to Vicksburg, Gettysburg In Color, Sacred Ground, 1863-1938: Volume 3, The Boy Generals: George Custer, Wesley Merritt, and the Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, from the Shenandoah Valley to the Surrender at Appomattox, Conflict and Controversy in the Confederate High Command, and Glorious Courage: John Pelham in the Civil War.
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Note: The National Tribune Remembers the Atlanta Campaign is also available in e-editions.
StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium
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