Photography - Overview
The millions of photographs in the Museum's collections compose a vast mosaic of the nation's history. Photographs accompany most artifact collections. Thousands of images document engineering projects, for example, and more record the steel, petroleum, and railroad industries.
Some 150,000 images capture the history, art, and science of photography. Nineteenth-century photography, from its initial development by W. H. F. Talbot and Louis Daguerre, is especially well represented and includes cased images, paper photographs, and apparatus. Glass stereographs and news-service negatives by the Underwood & Underwood firm document life in America between the 1890s and the 1930s. The history of amateur photography and photojournalism are preserved here, along with the work of 20th-century masters such as Richard Avedon and Edward Weston. Thousands of cameras and other equipment represent the technical and business side of the field.
"Photography - Overview" showing 97 items.
Page 1 of 10
Plate 55. Headquarters Guard of the Army of the Potomac
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- Soon after the breaking out of the war, a company of Zouaves, formed upon the French model, was organized in Philadelphia, with Capt. Collis as commander. They became body guard to General Banks, and did good service. Subsequently, Capt. Collis obtained authority to increase his small command to a Regiment, altering the costume from the old red Zouave bags–not at all suited for service in the woods of Virginia–to trousers of the same color. The affection of the soldiers for color is extraordinary; no statistics, showing the large increase of casualties to showy uniforms, could induce the Zouzous to part with theirs, and in this dress the 114th--attached to the Third Corps–participated in some of the bloodiest battles. At Gettysburg, their gallant Lieutenant Colonel (Cavada) was taken prisoner; with a number of the Regiment, fighting bravely against odds.
- When the army lay in winter quarters around Culpepper [sic], they relieved the 93d New York, in the duties of "Headquarters Guard" to General Meade, near Brandy Station. The photograph represents morning guard mount in front of the picturesque camp, a good specimen of the soldiers' architecture; the huts, with the barrel chimneys on the slope of the hill, are the quarters of the men; the larger ones on the ridge belong to the officers, while on the extreme right the tent in which the Sutler keeps store, is pitched. The entire space was a portion of a dense wood, almost impassable when first chosen for headquarters, and filled with rabbits, quail, hawks, owls, and other game. Soon all was cut down save the little grove on the top of the hill, reserved by Capt. Sleeper, of the 10th Massachusetts Battery, who had pitched his tents there, on what was once the rebel General Stuart's headquarters.
- The duties of the guard of headquarters, which also formed part of the provost brigade under Gen. Patrick, included, besides furnishing the regular camp guards for the protection of the officers' quarters, the care of the valuable wagon train of army headquarters, both in park and on the march, and the custody of rebel prisoners and deserters, detained for a time at the Provost Marshal's. In summer time, when the tents were shaded and embowered in branches of the green pine, a highly dramatic picture would be presented by the Regiment, marching out from the trees to evening dress parade, their muskets glittering brightly in the setting sun, white turbans and blue and scarlet uniforms contrasting strongly against the dusky background, while the officers of camp grouped around, smoking their pipes in the pleasant coolness of the evening air, listened to the "Faust March," by the Zouave band.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.05
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 56. Headquarters New York Herald, in the Field
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- Military operations were never so faithfully chronicled as during the late war. Each army was accompanied by a corps of newspaper correspondents, most of whom were dependent upon the officers' hospitality. At times the movements of the Army rendered it almost impossible for correspondents to live comfortably, and the difficulties to be contended with led many of those who first set out to write the history of campaigns to abandon the undertaking. The New York Herald was the first and only journal to organize a corps of army correspondents who might live independent of the officers, and conduct the system successfully to the close of the war. In the Army of the Potomac it had one correspondent attached to the headquarters of each corps of infantry, and one with each division of cavalry, all under a chief at the Commanding General's headquarters. The chief had a number of messengers for the purpose of communicating with the several correspondents, and with the office in New York, each of whom was capable of performing the duties of a correspondent, and thus fill any vacancy that might occur during active operations. Horses and wagons for the transportation of tents, camp equipage, forage, &c., were furnished by the Herald, and the representative of that paper always had at headquarters a place to which he might invite his friends.
- Thus organized, the Herald correspondents were generally enabled to outstrip all competitors in furnishing the public with intelligence, and found army life as pleasant as reportorial duties in a city. All were exposed to danger, and a number lost their lives on the field. Several were wounded, some were captured, and experienced all the horrors of rebel prisons, and not a few still suffer from the effects of fevers contracted in the swamps of the Chickahominy. Others, in the course of their army experience, acquired a knowledge of military matters that led to their appointment as officers, and notwithstanding the reduction of the army are now retained by the Government in responsible positions. The Herald was not alone represented in the field, but the completeness of its arrangements rendered competition fruitless. The Times, Tribune, World, and Western papers sent out enterprising men, some of whom have since written valuable histories of military movements. To the army correspondents the country owes more than it can fully appreciate, until the historian in the future shall attempt to give the true narration of these revolutionary events.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1863-09
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.06
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 59. Battery A, Fourth U.S. Artillery, Robertson's Brigade
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by James Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- This is one of the celebrated horse batteries of the Army of the Potomac. In the batteries designed for cavalry service, every man was mounted, except in action, when the cannoniers necessarily served the guns on foot. The picture represents the four 12-pounder light brass pieces "in battery," with limbers and caissons to the rear, and on the left the battery wagon, forge, ambulance, and wagons for transportation, embracing the entire equipage of a light battery in the field. Beyond, another battery is seen in camp. The horses being hitched in, and limber chests open, would seem to indicate that an inspection is about to be made. Just in the edge of the woods is brigade headquarters.
- When General Pleasanton commanded the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, in 1862, Captain Robertson (now General) was his Chief of Artillery, and was in the van of the forces, in the campaign which terminated at Antietam. The Captain aided materially in driving the rebels out of Frederick City, after a severe artillery fight. Following them closely, he fired the first shot at the battle of South Mountain, keeping the rebels engaged till the arrival of General Burnside's command. Again, at the battle of Antietam, his batteries were busy doing great execution. He was promoted subsequently, and held a command in the reserve artillery, for some time, always with the reputation of being a thorough artillery officer.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.09
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 62. U.S. Military Telegraph Construction Corps
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- This sketch represents the Telegraph Construction Corps of the Army of the Potomac putting up the wire. The Corps was composed of about one hundred and fifty men, with a requisite number of wagons, pack mules, &c. A squad of these men was assigned to each Corps Headquarters, and was always in readiness to put up new lines or remove those already up at a moment's notice from the Commanding General. During the first two years of the war the common wire was used; but as is referred to elsewhere, when Grant set out in his Wilderness Campaign, a flexible insulated wire was substituted. The large wire was wound on reels and placed in wagons, which drove along the route where the line was to be erected, the men following and putting up the wire as it unreeled. The work was done with great rapidity, and seldom became disarranged. The first lines were used when McClellan was organizing the Army at Arlington. On the Peninsula the telegraph followed the troops in all directions, and during the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville Campaigns proved an unfailing means of communication between the Army and Washington.
- As it was only intended for temporary uses, the poles were not required to be very substantial, and could be always found in that wooded country near any proposed route. The immense labor required in the construction of this telegraph led to the adoption of the insulated wire, which could be used with very little trouble. A coil of the latter would be placed on a mules back, and the animal led straight forward without halting while the wire unreeled, it only being necessary for two men to follow and hang up the line on the fences and bushes, where it would not be run over. When the telegraph extended through a section unoccupied by our troops, cavalry patrols watched it, and by holding the inhabitants responsible for its safety, generally prevented any interference with the line. The Central Telegraph Office was in the War Department building, from which a network of wires radiated in every direction. President Lincoln frequently visited this office, and spent many an evening sitting at the instruments reading the reports as they came in and were recorded by the operators.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1864-04
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.12
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.12
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 73. U.S. Military Telegraph Battery Wagon
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by David Knox, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- No feature of the Army of the Potomac contributed more to its success than the field telegraph. Guided by its young chief, Mr. A. H. Caldwell, its lines bound the corps together like a perfect nervous system, and bore unerringly to the great controlling head of the army, the wants and sympathies of its members. Its introduction was contemporary with the organization of the army in 1861, but not until Grant cut loose from Washington and started from Brandy Station for Richmond was its full power tested. Headquarters was furnished with a peculiarly constructed wagon, containing a galvanic battery of one hundred cups, divided into sections, which might be separated, if necessary, and attached to different stations. Seven fine wires, insulated in gutta percha, and flexible as a hempen cord, formed a line less than one eighth of an inch in diameter, which was wound upon reels and carried by pack mules. Thirty operators and a few orderlies completed the outfit. The army crossed the Rapidan with the telegraph line going up at the rate of two miles an hour, and Grant talked with his commanders in the Wilderness on the right and left, by the click of a little magnet. There was no time after that when every corps was not in direct communication with the Commanding General. The Army moved down towards Richmond along the front of the Confederates by constantly shifting corps from the right to the left of the main body, and always keeping an immovable centre. At Spottsylvania the Second Corps, at sundown, swung round from the extreme right in rear of the main body to the left. Ewell saw the movement, and swept down upon the exposed position, but the telegraph signaled the danger, and troops in a double-quick filled up the vacancy before the astounded enemy could assault our lines. Beyond the James river, operators in bomb-proofs under constant fire reported every demonstration along the works; and if the guns broke out suddenly in the night, the Commanding General, in his quarters had only to ask an operator at his side to know the cause.
- All the way from the broken lines at Petersburg to Appomattox Court-House, the telegraph kept pace with the front in the headlong race, and faithfully throbbed with the pulsations of the Army. Corps were sent out to flank the enemy with only a slender iron thread to hang their hopes of help upon, but their succor, when needed, never failed. Through thickets, swamps, and over rushing streams, the lines stretched on, following Grant as he swooped upon the front of Lee's flying troops, and half an hour after the last gun was fired at Appomattox Court-House, the news of victory flashed along the wires to City Point.
- Important dispatches were always sent in cypher which none but a few operators could read, and which were always translated before being delivered. Sometimes the enemy tapped the wires, but in consequence of this precaution the information thus obtained never proved of any value to them. The operators were frequently under fire, and calmly sitting at the instrument with shell flying over and around them, performed their duty in a manner that won an enviable reputation for courage. At the Petersburg mine explosion, an operator sat close at hand with an instrument, and notified Gen. Meade of the progress of affairs until the occasion no longer required his presence. The triumph of the field telegraph has exceeded the most sanguine expectations. From the opening of Grant's Campaign in the Wilderness to its close at Lee's surrender, an aggregate of over two hundred miles of wire was put up and taken down, without interfering in the least with its efficiency as a constant means of communication between the several commands. The Army of the Potomac was the first to demonstrate the advantages of the telegraph for conducting military operations, and the future campaigns of all civilized nations must in a great measure depend for success upon this great auxiliary.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1864-09
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.23
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.23
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 75. Mortar Dictator
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by David Knox, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- This monster mortar, cast by Mr. Charles Knapp, at his celebrated iron works in Pittsburg, Pa., was used for a short time in the summer of 1864, during the siege operations in front of Petersburg. Owing to its immense weight, 17,120 pounds, it was transported from City Point on a railway truck along the City Point and Petersburg Railroad, to a point in the ravine in rear of what is now generally known as Battery No.5, near the Jordan House, a side track from the main road being constructed especially for the purpose of moving it. The position selected from which to fire it, was admirably concealed from the ever-vigilant eye of the enemy. The truck was so strong and substantially built as to answer as a platform for the mortar.
- The Dictator is a 13-inch mortar, firing a shell weighing two hundred pounds, with a charge of twenty pounds of powder. At an angle of elevation of forty-five degrees the range is set down in the Ordnance Manual at 4,325 yards; but, if it is true that the shell thrown by it reached Centre Hill, in Petersburg, as the writer was informed by a very reliable gentleman of that city, then it must have been carried at least 2.7 miles, or 4,752 yards. The bursting of the shell was described as terrific, an immense crater being formed in the ground where it fell, and earth, stones, and sod being scattered in every direction, much to the consternation of the inhabitants of the place.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1864-10
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.25
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.25
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 78. Three First Traverses, Fort Fisher, N. C.
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- In September, 1864, the necessity of closing the port of Wilmington against blockade-runners, by capturing the city, became a subject of serious consideration to the Government. A fleet of naval vessels, surpassing in numbers and equipments any which had assembled during the war, was collected at Hampton Roads. Various causes intervened to delay the movement, and it was not until the early part of December that the expedition departed for Beaufort, N.C., the place of rendezvous. Some further necessary preparations were there made, which, together with unfavorable weather and other incidents, delayed the attack until the 24th of December.
- On that day Rear-Admiral Porter, with a bombarding force of thirty-seven vessels, five of which were iron-clads, and a reserved force of nineteen vessels, attacked the forts at the mouth of Cape Fear river, and silenced them in one hour and a quarter; but there being no troops to make an assault or attempt to possess them, nothing beyond the injury inflicted on the works and the garrison was accomplished by the bombardment. A renewed attack was made the succeeding day, but with scarcely better results. The fleet shelled the forts during the day, and silenced them, but no assault was made or attempted by the troops which had been disembarked for that purpose. Major General Butler, who commanded the co-operating force, after a reconnoissance [sic], came to the conclusion that the place could not be carried by an assault. He therefore ordered a re-embarkation, and informing Rear-Admiral Porter of his intention, returned with his command to Hampton Roads.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1865-01
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.28
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.28
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 78. The Pulpit, Fort Fisher, N.C.
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- Upon the failure of the attack of December 24th, 1864, on Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, a second military force was detailed, composed of about eight thousand five hundred men, under the command of Major General A. H. Terry. This officer arrived off Fort Fisher on the 13th of January. Offensive operations were at once resumed by the naval force, and the troops were landed and intrenched themselves, while a portion of the fleet bombarded the works. These operations were continued throughout the 14th with an increased number of vessels. The 15th was the day decided upon for an assault. During the forenoon of that day forty-four vessels poured an incessant fire into the rebel forts. There was, besides, a force of fourteen vessels in reserve. At 3 P.M. the signal for the assault was made. Desperate fighting ensued, traverse after traverse was taken, and by 10 P.M. the works were all carried, and the flag of the Union floated over them. Fourteen hundred sailors and marines were landed, and participated in the direct assault.
- Seventy-five guns, many of them superb rifle pieces, and nineteen hundred prisoners, were the immediate fruits and trophies of the victory; but the chief value and ultimate benefit of this grand achievement consisted in closing the main gate through which the insurgents had received supplies from abroad, and sent their own products to foreign markets in exchange. Light draught steamers were immediately pushed over the bar and into the river, the channel of which was speedily buoyed, and the removal of torpedoes forthwith commenced. The rebels witnessing the fall of Fort Fisher, at once evacuated and blew up Fort Caswell, destroyed Bald Head Fort and Fort Sbaw [sic], and abandoned Fort Campbell. Within twenty-four hours after the fall of Fort Fisher, the main defence of Cape Fear river, the entire chain of formidable works in the vicinity, shared its fate, placing in our possession one hundred and sixty-eight guns of heavy calibre.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1865-01
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.29
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.29
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 86. Interior View of Confederate Works at Gracie's Salient
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- Gracie's Salient is nearly opposite Fort Haskell. To the left of the centre of the picture, Poo Creek is seen to run through the enemy's line. To form an additional obstacle in front of the latter, for the purpose of checking and holding under fire any assaulting column, a dam was thrown across this creek to create an artificial pond. To the left of the creek a part of the line is revetted by what engineers style "hurdle revetement," made by driving poles into the banquette, and then forming a wicker-work, by interlacing twigs between them. At one point along it a traverse is to be seen to protect the men from an enfilading fire. Some little distance in front of this hurdle revetement, more in the foreground of the picture, it should be said, can be seen some chevaux-de-frise. This is an artificial means, placed in advance of a line or field work, as an obstacle to delay or break an attacking party. They have been probably placed there preparatory to being used. To the right of the creek is an admirable representation of the bomb-proofs in which the men lived, and the covered ways connecting them and communicating with them from the rear. Every means was taken to protect the soldiers from the constant risk they ran from exploding shells and leaden bullets. It would be difficult to accurately describe these suburban mansions; they are not located with much symmetry or regularity, the formation of the ground determining their relative positions, nor are they constructed with much regard to beauty. On the rebel side, in consequence of the scarcity of wood, small grates were used, in order to burn bituminous coal. The badly ventilated, damp, chilly atmosphere, impregnated with suffocating gas, had a very demoralizing effect.
- A soldier is willing to brave danger on an open battle-field; but the hardships to which they must submit in the trenches during a long siege, whether exposed to a broiling summer's sun, or drenched by a cold winter's rain, proves ruinous to the constitution, although they may be fighting for "the best one" on the face of the earth. In the background of the picture may be seen the almost undiscernible lines constructed by the United States forces.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1865-05
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.36
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.36
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Plate 87. Dutch Gap Canal, James River
- Description
- Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by John Reekie, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
- The Dutch Gap Canal was cut across a narrow neck of land on the James River, eight miles in a direct line from Richmond. The object of this work was to save about seven miles of river navigation, by uniting two different points of the river, which here made a great bend flowing around a bluff, and forming an isthmus of only five hundred feet wide. The work of excavation commenced on the 9th of August, 1864. The rebels opened their formidable batteries on the laborers, on the 13th, and with few intervals maintained a fire from mortars and rifled guns until the conclusion of the enterprise. The regiments employed on the work were the 116th and 169th New York volunteers, and the 4th, 6th, 10th, 36th, 38th, and 100th United States colored regiments. From the commencement of the work, the labors of these troops averaged one hundred and twenty men for a period of ten hours each day, working eighteen days in August, twenty-five days in September, and twenty-six days in October. From the first of November until the time of completion, the average consisted of one hundred and thirty men, working eleven and a half hours each day. On the 8th of December the middle dam or partition holding back the water from the portion excavated by manual labor, and the use of carts, was blown out, five hundred pounds of powder being used. At this time fifteen feet of water was admitted into the entire Canal, except that portion at the upper end, comprising about fifty feet, remaining to be excavated.
- On the night of the 30th of December the mines were laid under the bulkhead, which divided the water in the Canal from the river above, and on the afternoon of the 1st of January were exploded in the presence of Major General Butler and Staff, General Ludlow, who had charge of the work, General Collis, and Senator Clarks, of New Hampshire. The chief correspondent of the New York Herald, who also witnessed the affair, says in his account: "The result of the explosion was hardly what was expected of it. The mass of dirt was heaved up by the powder, but fell back substantially in the same position. A crater was formed, into which the water ran slowly from the Canal below. This extended about two thirds of the distance from the head of the water in the Canal to the edge of the water in the James. No connection between the Canal and the River was established." Since that time, however, the Canal has been opened, and a few vessels of light draught have ventured to run through. The entire length of the Canal is five hundred and twenty-two feet, and the greatest width at the top of the excavation one hundred and twenty-two feet. The bed of the Canal is sixty feet wide and at high water sixteen feet deep, except at the upper end, where it is still obstructed to a considerable degree by the dirt which felt back after the explosion.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1865-03
- maker
- Gardner, Alexander
- ID Number
- 1986.0711.0283.37
- accession number
- 1986.0711
- catalog number
- 1986.0711.0283.37
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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