While in the process of reading John J. Fox’s excellent new book on the defense of Fort Gregg and Fort Whitworth at Petersburg, I ran across several references to the National Tribune, a monthly and then weekly newspaper published from 1877-1917. The National Tribune was essentially the newspaper of the Grand Army of the Republic, the largest and most famous of the postwar Union veteran organizations. Its pages are filled with first person accounts of famous Civil War battles, including those fought during the Siege of Petersburg.
Why am I giving you a little history lesson on the National Tribune? Because I found the entire run of the newspaper online in image form at the Library of Congress! This is a treasure trove of the reminiscences of Union veterans, and I plan to eventually post articles from the National Tribune pertaining to the Siege of Petersburg in Beyond the Crater’s Siege of Petersburg Resources section.