The war dragged on for four years, but the public's interest in it - and The Inquirer's efforts to cover it - did not wane.

The paper claimed a coup in May 1864 when it provided the first full coverage of the fighting around Spotsylvania Court House, Va.

"The town [Philadelphia] is more excited today than any day since Bull Run, and the victory of The Inquirer being first to publish the news is as great as the news is splendid & grand," Inquirer editor William W. Harding wrote in a telegram to Painter, the reporter, in Washington.

"It was a clean, clear, & complete beat of the other papers . . . Spare no efforts of time and money to keep The Inquirer ahead."

The paper wasn't always right, though. In its May 14, 1864, edition, it carried an unconfirmed - and incorrect - report that Lee had been wounded.

Every day had its challenges as The Inquirer went on to cover the war's final battles, the fall of Richmond, Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, Va., the assassination of Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, and the killing of assassin John Wilkes Booth.

A new chapter in journalism was being written as Inquirer reporters helped give the country its first instant-news war.

"In the hothouse of war, when everything that happens changes history, the press was still going and tremendous amounts of information were being passed back and forth," Miller said. "Even disagreement became a part of the great democratic experiment that needed to be saved."

In the end, the flow of information during the war helped bring the nation back together. "When we went into the war, it was 'these' United States," Miller said. "After the war, it was 'the' United States."

Contact staff writer Edward Colimore at 856-779-3833 or ecolimore@phillynews.com.