The Spirit of the Times was the premier American sporting journal of the 19th century. It was founded in 1831 (the same year as The Liberator) by William T. Porter who edited it for 25 years. Porter lost financial control, so in 1856 he joined with George Wilkes to found Porter's Spirit of the Times. When Porter died in 1858, his share in the second Spirit fell into the hands of a New York lawyer.

Wilkes didn't get along with his new partner, so in September 1859 he established his own journal, Wilkes' Spirit of the Times. For a short time there were three Spirits being published simultaneously, but Porter's Spirit went out of business soon after. The original Spirit had a large portion of its subscribers in the South, so the Civil War sealed its fate, leaving Wilkes as the sole survivor after June 1861.

Published in New York City, the paper covered all kinds of sports: horseracing, hunting, billiards, baseball, boxing, skating, etc., as well as theater and other amusements. However, Wilkes was an exceptionally good writer himself and covered some Civil War battles (e.g., First Manassas) first hand. His coverage of the Civil War is personal and his opinions strong. An example from February 8, 1862:

"The Southern people who are in rebellion are our enemies. There is no description of property in their possessions, which it is not in our interest to destroy--even to the taking of their lives…These are the laws of war."

While the Union home front has more coverage here than in other publications, the war content and editorials--often in the form of letters--are worth noting as well. Wilkes was outraged by what he considered to be mismanagement of the War effort, and led the press effort to remove General George McClellan.