The Nov. 28, 1863, Rebel attack on the Union pickets in front of Fort Sanders’ northwest bastion was as clear a tip off as anything could be that a larger ground attack was imminent, according to these recollections in the National Tribune of Nov. 9, 1882.

The fact that the attack on the pickets came close to midnight apparently was all the clue that Burnside’s troops needed. There had been plenty of sharpshooting at the pickets, but that was all during the day, and none of it had included ground assaults.

The Tribune, a newspaper first published monthly and later weekly in Washington, D.C.,  was the Union version of Confederate Veteran magazine. Not as necessary perhaps, considering that the official Union records are far more complete than the Confederate ones, but still valuable in situations where soldiers and their officers differ. And now, thanks to the Library of Congress, online and searchable.

Via Bull Runnings.