Editing The Philadelphia Inquirer (section)

====American Civil War====
In 1859, circulation had been around 7,000; by 1863 it had increased to 70,000. Part of the increase was due to the interest in news during the [[American Civil War]]. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 copies of ''The Inquirer'' were distributed to [[Union Army]] soldiers during the war and several times the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] asked ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' to publish special editions for its soldiers. ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' supported the Union, but Harding wanted their coverage to remain neutral. [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] generals often sought copies of the paper, believing that the newspaper's war coverage was accurate.<ref name="Inqhistory"/>

During the Civil War, ''Inquirer'' journalist [[Uriah Hunt Painter]] was at the [[First Battle of Bull Run]] in 1861, a battle which ended in a Confederate victory. Initial reports from the government claimed a Union victory, but ''The Inquirer'' went with Painter's firsthand account. Crowds threatened to burn ''The Inquirer''{{'s}} building down because of the report. Another report about [[George Meade|General George Meade]] angered him enough that he punished Edward Crapsey, the reporter who wrote it. Crapsey and other Civil War correspondents at the newspaper later decided to attribute any victories of the [[Army of the Potomac]], Meade's command, to [[Ulysses S. Grant]], commander of the Union Army. Any defeats, conversely, were attributed to Meade.<ref name="Inqhistory"/>

During the Civil War, ''The Inquirer'' continued to grow with more staff being added and another move into a larger building on [[Chestnut Street (Philadelphia)|Chestnut Street]]. Following the Civil War, ''The Inquirer'' faced financial challenges, and Harding became ill. Despite Philadelphia's population growth, distribution fell from 70,000 during the Civil War to 5,000 in 1888.

In 1889, the newspaper was sold to publisher James Elverson, who moved ''The Inquirer'' to a new building that included the latest printing technology. Elverson also increased the newspaper's staff. A new ''Inquirer'' premiered on March 1, 1889, and was successful enough that Elverson launched a Sunday edition of the newspaper. In 1890, in an attempt to increase circulation further, the price of ''The Inquirer'' was cut and the paper's size was increased, mostly with [[Classified advertising|classified advertisements]]. After five years, ''The Inquirer'' had to move into a larger building on [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]] and later expanded further into an adjacent property.<ref name="Inqhistory"/>