May 15th, 2013: 17th New York Independent Battery in Washington, D.C.
While the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia recovered from the Battle of Chancellorsville, a Union battery of artillery took the time to have some photos made. The 17
th New York Independent Battery was recruited in August of 1862 in northwestern New York State, and assigned to the XXII Corps in the defenses of Washington, D.C. By the spring of 1863 they had not seen action yet, but were on standby should a Confederate force assault the capital. Today we’ll examine the photos taken around 150
th years ago today and meet some of the men featured in them.
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May 8, 2013: Member Submission: Enoch Eubanks
150 years ago today, a young man of 20 could mark the one year anniversary of the survival of the first of three battle wounds he would receive and live to tell about. Enoch Eubanks had quite a life and just a few stories to tell.
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October 2nd, 2012: John A. Clark
For thousands of families across the North and South, 150 years ago today was another day for the losses the country suffered at the brutal Battle of Antietam to sink in. Families would have found out through newspapers and letters from the loved ones lost, and reminders would have been constant. For the family and comrades of Lieutenant John A. Clark there was a reminder, if they ever saw it, that would have better conveyed the chaos that their relation experienced at Antietam than anything else. This took the form of a photograph taken in the days following the battle that clearly showed the initial resting place of John Clark, along with a Confederate whom he had fought against.
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August 22nd, 2012: Rappahannock Station
150 years ago today the Union Army of Virginia and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were engaged in skirmishing along a relatively wide front near the Rappahannock River as they began a collision course that culminated in the Battle of Second Manassas. Photographers were in the area and captured glimpses that can tell us much about what is was like to be a soldiers involved in the Northern Virginia Campaign 150 years ago this month. Today we will examine a photograph take of a Union encampment near Rappahannock Station, Virginia.
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August 21st, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is a rather simple, but relatively uncommon full-length one of a soldier standing at a position similar to "charge bayonet."
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August 20th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
The 34th Indiana was organized in September of 1861. The uniform of the regiment was an unusual variant of the popular zouave style, as we'll see in today's portrait of a man from that unit.
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August 19th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
The New Yorker who is the subject of today's portraits post was armed with an Enfield rifle musket when he sat for his portrait. We can tell he is a New Yorker by the "SNY" on his belt buckle, which stands for State of New York.
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August 18th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
A man who has been identified as a Confederate artilleryman is the subject of today's portraits post.
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August 17th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Our portrait for today is of a typical Union soldier.
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August 16th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of two Confederate soldiers who are great examples of what many of the common soldiers in the ranks would have looked like 150 years ago today.
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August 15th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
There were many interesting uniform variant's during the Civil War. Today's portrait shows an unusual Confederate uniform, which has been identified by the Library of Congress as a rifleman's coat. Rifleman or not, it's an interesting example of what some men in the armies looked like in the early part of the war.
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August 14th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Our portrait for today is of a Confederate soldier probably taken in the early part of the war. The weapon he is holding is a conversion musket, meaning it had originally been a flintlock but was converted to percussion sometime before the war.
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August 13th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of a mounted Union soldier, presumable a cavalryman. It was taken in front of what looks like a winter quarters camp, and white the photographer was taking the image the soldier's horse moved slightly, causing it to blur.
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August 12th, 2012: Aftermath of Cedar Mountain
The Battle of Cedar Mountain is often overlooked along with the period of the Civil War in which it took place. Early August of 1862 was the end of the period of relative quiet in between the end of the Peninsula Campaign and Second Manassas. There is some great documentation of this time period as we've seen in the past couple of days, and today we'll look at a photograph taken in the wake of Cedar Mountain with some fascinating details.
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August 11th, 2012: Cedar Mountain Aftermath
The photographs taken of the Cedar Mountain battlefield in the days following are fascinating. They are a precursor to those taken at Antietam and Gettysburg, and the fact that they shed light on a rather overlooked event is even more intriguing. Today we will look at a photo of a group of buildings that came under fire from Union artillery during the battle.
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August 10th, 2012: View of the Battle of Cedar Mountain
150 years ago today, the battlefield near Cedar mountain was strewn with dead soldiers and animals. The scene would have been incomprehensible to anyone who did not witness it. Civilians on the homefront wanted to know what the war looked like, and newspaper men and photographers showed up to supply them with visuals. Today we will look at a sketch made of the actual battle, which shows some of the brutality of the battle.
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August 9th, 2012: Charles Winder
150 years ago today an often overlooked battle took place near Culpeper, Virginia. The Battle of Cedar Mountain was a prelude to the Second Manassas Campaign and marked the shifting of the focus of the war in the east to Northern Virginia. Cedar Mountain was also the site of the death of an often overlooked Confederate commander, Charles Winder.
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July 30th, 2012: Views into the Civil War
One aspect of soldiers life that gets overlooked quite often is the time that men spent not on duty while sick. Today's view will show a hospital tent from the Union camp at Harrison's Landing about 150 years ago today, and gives a glimpse into what was an unfortunately common scene in all Civil War camps.
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July 29th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of a young Confederate infantryman, probably taken fairly early in the Civil War, who was armed with an antiquated smoothbore musket.
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July 28th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's photo is of an unknown VMI cadet, who more then likely served in the Civil War.
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July 27th, 2012: Views Into the Civil War
At the beginning of the week we showed a view of the left flank of the Army of the Potomac 150 years ago, now we will shift to the right.
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July 26th, 2012: Views Into the Civil War
Today we will continue our focus on the transformation of the landscape around Harrison's Landing from a picturesque Virginia tidewater farm area to the camp of the largest army then in existence in the Western Hemisphere.
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July 25th, 2012: Views Into the Civil War
Today we will bring you more camp scenes from Harrison's Landing, where the Union Army of the Potomac was based for much of the summer of 1862.
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July 23rd, 2012: Views Into the Civil War
The caption of today's view is "The birth place of Wm. Henry Harrison now used as a general hospital." The Harrison Mansion and the family that lived there gave Harrison's Landing its name, and 150 years ago today housed many sick and injured soldiers as well as featured what maybe a signal on top of one of the chimneys.
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July 23rd, 2012: Views Into the Civil War
Today's view will show us what some of the Union positions looked like around the Army of the Potomac's camp at Harrison's Landing. The AotP had been idle at Harrison's landing since the conclusion of the Seven Day's Battles. While the focus of the war in the east shifted to Northern Virginia once again the men still on the Peninsula were largely doing what some of the soldiers in this sketch are doing, not much at all.
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July 22nd, 2012: Civil War Portraits
This image was taken of a soldiers in the 33rd Missouri Infantry at Camp Baxter in St. Louis, Missouri.
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July 21st, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of a very young Confederate soldier.
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July 20th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
There are many imgaes of people taken around the time of the Civil War that with hindsight are profound in some someway. Today's image of a civilian however, may well have been taken with some symbolism in mind.
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July 19th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of a soldier in the 26th New York, the 2nd Oneida Regiment, which suffered heavily during the war. Over the course of their two years of service between May of 1861 and May of 1863 they lost 5 officers and 101 enlisted men killed in action. This soldier is unidentified, so we have no way of knowing if he made i through his service.
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July 18th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of a young Confederate who is a good example of what many Confederate soldiers would have looked like in 1862.
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July 17th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
The image of a U.S. Army officer we have today might have been taken before the war. The young man is unidentified but we would be very interested to know what he did during the conflict.
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July 16th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait shows some soldiers displaying some activities that many enjoyed when they could while on campaign- drinking, smoking and playing cards.
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July 15th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's image could just as easily be of a group of European soldiers of the mid-19th century than of American. They are wearing French inspired zouave uniforms and reenacting a battle scene.
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July 14th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today’s image is a rather rare one of a group of artilleryman,probably serving in the Western Theater, standing around their 6 pounder gun.
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July 13th, 2012: James W. Davis
150 years ago today a small battle occurred in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The fight occurred between Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest and a Union force of infantry, cavalry and artillery under Colonel Henry C. Lester of the 3
rd Minnesota Infantry. At the end of the day Forrest had humiliated the Union force and captured many prisoners, resulting in the later dismissal of Col. Lester for his rout at the hands of Forrest. Among the Union soldiers in the fight that day was James W. Davis, a Welsh born coal miner. The confusion of the battle hampered the Union officers’ ability to notify families of the fate of their loved ones, and Davis’ family would be ignorant of what happened to him for many months.
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July 12th, 2012: Views into the Civil War
Similar to yesterday’s post, today we will look at a collage of scenes from the Union Army’s activity in the summer of 1862.
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July 11th, 2012: Views into the Civil War
150 years ago many people on the home front were anxious to know more about what their sons, brothers and husbands were experiencing while soldiering. Northern newspapers provided valuable glimpses into what was going on along the front, and for those of us who still today are anxious to know about soldiers’ life the images they produced are very valuable.
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July 10th, 2012: Camp Near Bull Run, Virginia
Today we’ll share another fascinating image of what life was like for hundreds of thousands of Civil War soldiers 150 years ago today. Candid photos of camp scenes are not all that common, but occasionally you find one that gives a great view into 1860’s soldier’s life. One such image was taken near Blackburn’s Ford along Bull Run in July 1862.
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July 9th, 2012: Officers of the Irish Brigade
150 years ago in July of 1862 the men of the Army of the Potomac found themselves with extra time on their hands as they lay mostly idle at Harrison’s Landing on the James River. Around that time a few officers of the famous Irish Brigade sat for a photo, and among them was a man whose statue you’ve probably passed many time on the Gettysburg Battlefield.
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July 8th, 2012: Civil War Potraits
Today's portrait post will feature another Confederate photo.
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July 7th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
A Confederate artilleryman will featured on today's portrait post.
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July 6th, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today's portrait is of a young Confederate, who was probably an infantryman.
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July 5th, 2012: Alfred N. Duffie
150 years ago today the Army of the Potomac was settling in into was would become several weeks of relative idleness at Harrison’s Landing on the James River. It was a time of replenishment and rest, and gave many soldiers the opportunity to be photographed while not on the move. One officer who had his image taken in July of 1862 was Alfred N. Duffie, a French born officer with an interesting history.
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July 4th, 2012: Capture of the Teaser
150 years ago today an interesting action occurred on the James River. A Union gunboat was able to capture intact a Confederate tug named the
Teaser. While not a very well-known incident It was certainly a boost for Union forces along the James who were still recovering from the Seven Day’s Battles.
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July 3rd, 2012: The Skedaddler's Hall
150 years ago the Seven Days Battles had ended and the Army of the Potomac began to settle in to many weeks of low activity near Harrison's Landing on the James River. Sketch artist Alfred Waud was there and captured some interesting moments. Today we'll show a place call the "Skedaddler's Hall" by Waud. It seems to have been a building occupied by a sutler that officers would congregate to get away from the daily routine.
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July 2nd, 2012: Civil War Portraits
Today we will feature a portrait of a Union drummer boy, identified as being from Massachusetts from the state seal on his belt buckle.
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July 1st, 2012: Malvern Hill
July 1
st, 1862 was the final day of the Seven Day’s Battles and the effective end of the Peninsula Campaign. After battering the larger Army of the Potomac into a position of perceived weakness, Robert E. Lee took one last shot at annihilating his foe. Unfortunately for Lee and his men the Union army was on Malvern Hill, a high, gently sloping piece of open ground which was an ideal setting for Union artillery. Despite unflinching bravery the Confederate were repulsed with heavy lost on all fronts, but the greater goal of saving Richmond had been accomplished.
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June 30th, 2012: Views into the Civil War
The Seven Days, being the heaviest sustained combat thus far in the east was big news, and newspapers in both the north and south wanted all they could get on the action. Thusly, we have many images of what the fighting 150 years ago today would have looked like. Today and tomorrow we will look at eyewitness images of the climax of the Seven Days Battles of Glendale and Malvern Hill.
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June 29th, 2012: Michael Mason
On June 29
th, 1862 the Seven Days battles ground on around the Union supply depot of Savage’s Station. By this point in the campaign the Army of the Potomac had lost much of its cohesion, mostly due to the absence of its commander George McClellan, who chose to go to the rear near his army’s destination of Harrison’s Landing without leaving anyone to command in his stead. The Union had badly bloodied Lee’s men during the futile assaults early in the campaign, but 150 years ago today events seemed to turn in the Confederates’ favor. During the fighting at Savage’s Station a soldier named Michael Mason was killed, as we learned from a portrait of his younger brother in the collections of the Library of Congress.
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June 28th, 2012: Union Wounded at Savage’s Station
150 years ago today wounded soldiers were growing rapidly in number. Three days of battle had taken its toll on both armies and each had to address the unfortunate duty of caring for those who had been shot or maimed. One of the most famous photos taken during the Civil War was made during this time around June 28
th, 1862. It shows a fenced in yard packed full of Union wounded, and when examined under high resolution can tell us a great deal about the suffering endured by the wounded.
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