In this captivating new approach to the study of the American Civil War, Andrew S. Coopersmith delves into hundreds of local newspapers published during the conflict, providing a selection of colorful, idiosyncratic, and highly opinionated reports that both educate and entertain. Fighting Words incorporates extensive excerpts from a wide range of period newspapers—from the Cleveland Plain Dealer to the New Orleans Bee, from the Anglo-African to the Weekly Caucasian.

In these pages can be found illuminating, and often competing, perspectives on the firing on Fort Sumter, the reasons for fighting, the institution of slavery, the first Battle of Manassas, the capture and occupation of New Orleans, the struggle over emancipation, the enlistment of black soldiers, the eruption of class conflict in the Confederacy, the Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the New York City draft riots, Sherman’s march, Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the initial process of reconstruction. In each instance, we are shown the vastly different priorities, worldviews, and political objectives that shaped the war and its outcome.

Fighting Words is lavishly illustrated with over 100 facsimile reproductions from the newspapers themselves, which never before have been available to a contemporary audience. This makes it an exceptional gift book for any Civil War enthusiast.

A review from Publisher’s Weekly reads:

"To glance at a Civil War paper is to be transported to a different era from the one in which we live today," writes Coopersmith in his introduction to this rich analysis of Civil War reporting. Yet, readers will no doubt find some comparisons between the "war of opinion" that raged almost 150 years ago and the polarization the country is experiencing now. Coopersmith, a historian and Civil War enthusiast, presents a panorama-in-print of a fractious and frenzied nation through articles, editorials and illustrations culled from more than 80 Civil War-era newspapers, most with markedly different agendas. The multiple takes on the same events underscore the nation’s divisiveness and the conflicts that raged along political, social and racial lines. Reporting on the Battle of Bull Run, an early Southern victory, the Charleston Courier’s headlines trumpeted: "Southerners Victorious!!... The Enemy in Full Flight and Closely Pursued!" Meanwhile, the New York Times tried to downplay the Union’s losses as "exaggerations," with headlines like, "The National Army Not Routed" and "Shocking Barbarities Perpetrated by the Rebels." Also engaging is the rousing and opinionated language news writers often used to shape public opinion. Southern papers, for example, frequently described the war as a fight against tyranny, and after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the Southern Illustrated News ran a cartoon of him stripping off his bearded visage to reveal a devil’s face. The articles and Images collected here offer a fascinating glimpse into the reportage of the Civil War period, and Coopersmith’s running analysis serves not only as the glue that holds them all together, but as a source of insight into the war’s key events, the news writers and their motivations.
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Published by The New Press

Copyright © 2005, Andrew Coopersmith

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"Fighting Words brings the Civil War to life, in all of its complexity and moral ambiguity."--Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States