I'm working on a novel that is set in the early era of firearms and I'm looking for some inspiration.

Can anyone tell me a bit about, for instance, journalism during wars in the 18th and 19th century, or point me to some books that might be a good starting point for reading about it? Most of my mental images of journalists tend to be of the early 20th century, and I'm wondering if there was such a thing as an embedded correspondent, or if most of the reporting was handled by governments and propagandists.