| National Museum of American History

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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

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.On the evening of the 7th of April, 1865, General Grant first forwarded, under a flag of truce, a letter to Gen.

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.; On the evening of the 7th of April, 1865, General Grant first forwarded, under a flag of truce, a letter to Gen. Lee, demanding the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, in order to avoid the further effusion of blood. That army had re-crossed the Appomattox river at High Bridge and Farmville, closely pressed by Sheridan's cavalry and the Armies of the Potomac and James. On the 8th, some correspondence passed between the two Commanding Generals, the one army retreating towards Lynchburg, followed by the Second and Sixth Corps, whilst the cavalry and the Fifth and Twenty-Fourth Corps made forced marches in order to pass around and gain the front of the enemy. About noon on the 9th, the head of the Second Corps, when within three miles of Appomattox Court-House, came up with the rear guard of the enemy; and at the same time, Gen. Lee, in person, appeared with a flag of truce, and, by letter, asked for a suspension of hostilities, pending negotiations for a surrender. About four o'clock in the afternoon of that eventful Sunday, the glad tidings was announced throughout the Union Armies that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. The excitement among our troops was unparalleled, officers and men uniting in the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. The photograph represents the house in which the terms of capitulation between Generals Grant and Lee were signed. The apple tree (about half a mile from the Court-House) under which they first met, has been entirely carried away in pieces, as mementoes, not even the roots remaining.; It is a singular fact that the owner of this house, Mr. McLean, was living on the first Bull Run battle-field at the time of that engagement, and afterwards removed to this place for the purpose of being secure from the visitation of an army.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-04

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.49
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.49

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.

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

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; The North Anna is an exceedingly picturesque river, abounding in beautiful scenery; the old mills of Jericho being not the least remarkable among its many attractions. Here, on the 23d of May, 1864, the Fifth Corps, under the leadership of Gen. Governeur K. Warren, performed one of the most dashing exploits of that campaign. Advancing quickly upon the river, they poured down the steep banks, driving all before them, and, with no delay for pontoons, dashed across and secured a position upon the other aide[sic], before the rebels could organize for opposition. General Warren was not allowed to hold, without a struggle, what he had so suddenly gained. Forming their masses in the woods, the enemy soon commenced a vigorous attack upon the isolated corps; but the Fifth Corps was not disposed to part with its laurels, and after a severe struggle, which cost them many men, the defeated Confederates withdrew. The pontoons arriving, bridges were laid, and the Sixth Corps passed over to take position with the Fifth. No further fighting of any consequence ensuing, the soldiers amused themselves by destroying a large portion of the railroad between Richmond arid [sic] Gordonsville. That accomplished, the army recrossed the river, and proceeded to execute another of the flanking operations, which were the peculiar feature of Grant's campaign against Richmond. One of those incidents characteristic of war, and which can hardly be prevented, where an army marches through hostile countries, took place here. Before the pontoon bridges were removed, some straggling soldiers entered one of the houses on the top of the bank, over the mill, and fired it; forcing the inmates to leave and seek refuge in the open air, where a heavy rain drenched them to the skin, They descended the hill, and crossed the pontoon bridge, a pitiful procession of women and wailing children, ignorant of the fact, that the house they were seeking for protection was likewise destroyed and the inmates driven off.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1864-05

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.15
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.15

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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.; Showing in the roof, and in various other places, the damage sustained from General Grant's lines, which, during the year 1864, were advanced to within a mile and a half of this spot. A noble smoke-stack, upwards of eighty feet high, built of brick, and standing in advance of the structure, was so terribly mutilated by shot and shell, as finally to totter completely to the ground, where it now lies a mass of rubbish. Forming, as it did, a sort of target, at which the Federal batteries were in the habit of taking aim, the consequence was that most of the houses hereabouts, and particularly those in Bollingbrook and Lombard streets, suffered more severely than in any other portion of the city, many of them being entirely demolished.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-05

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.31
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.31

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.

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

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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 property, recently, and for many years, better known as Furt's Mill, is situated just below Bolling's Dam, on the Appomattox River, near Campbell's Bridge. It is one of the several large establishments which the city of Petersburg boasts for the manufacture of flour. At the height of the grinding season, we are informed, it is capable of turning out about three hundred barrels daily.; The dam constitutes the terminus of tide-water on this stream, and, with its surroundings, is the subject of one of "Shaw's Illustrations of American Scenery," published in New York, on a large scale, upwards of forty years ago.; The Mill, we further learn, was originally built in seventeen hundred and seventy-three by Mr. Bolling.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-05

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.30
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.30

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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.; Too great a measure of praise cannot be bestowed upon a more noble and industrious body of men than the Fiftieth New York Volunteer Engineers. In the midst of the great demands made upon their services in tune of battle and of siege, the officers and men found pleasure in designing, planning, and building the beautiful rustic structure presented in this view, and devoting the same to the worship of the great God of Battles. The timber upon the spot, and the tools, with which they were provided for engineering purposes, furnished the material and means wherewith to exercise the taste, genius, and energy displayed. The first services, though they cannot well be styled a dedication, were conducted on Sunday, March 5, 1865, by the Rev. Mr. Duryea, of New York, and on each succeeding Sabbath day, and during many evenings of the week, the army chaplains and visiting clergymen were invited to officiate. It is built not far from the site of the old Poplar Spring Meeting House, a plain country board church, which was used successively by both armies as a hospital during the operations on the 29th and 30th of September, and 1st and 2d of October, 1864, near the Pegram House, now the site of Fort Fisher.; The present Church was used for the same purpose during the movements on the last of March, and 1st and 2d of April, 1865. The Regiment, upon moving away from its camp to take part in the pursuit of Lee's army, left a wooden tablet over the entrance to the Church, with these words inscribed upon it: "Presented to the Trustees of the Poplar Springs Church, by the Fiftieth Regiment New York Volunteer Engineers." Colonel Ira Spaulding commanded the Regiment, Captain McGrath, the architect and builder of the Church. In front is a group of several of the officers of the Regiment. On the foreground stands the architect himself. One view of the Church also shows, on the left, the quarters, neatly and tastefully arranged, of the Regimental officers.; It has been proposed to move the edifice to the great Central Park of New York City, as one of the mementoes of the war, and certainly no more interesting or striking feature could be added to the already many beautiful adornments that embellish those grounds. This monument to the skill and ingenuity of the builders, receives universal admiration.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-02

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.24
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.24

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.

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

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.Another scene of picturesque beauty on this interesting stream.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; Another scene of picturesque beauty on this interesting stream. The building is a time-worn, weather-stained structure, not altogether free from the suspicion of harboring reptiles. In the river the negroes caught delicious terrapin, and the soldiers varied their rations with messes of catfish. A temporary bridge, constructed from the timber found at the mill, was thrown across, just below the dam, and many were the misgivings, when the rains caused a rise in the river, threatening to float away the frail structure, and sever communications with the opposite bank, a disaster which happily did not take place. In the grassy fields above the mill, the tents of Grant's and Meade's headquarters, seldom far apart, were pitched for a few days. Among the prisoners brought to this place was a woman, clad in rebel gray. She was taken, mounted astride a bony steed, apparently performing the duties of a scout, but claimed to belong to a battery of artillery. A degraded, wild specimen of humanity, of Irish extraction, with a shock of tangled black hair hanging in elf locks down to her shoulders, she proved the centre of interest to the idlers of the camp. At these she would occasionally hurl stones, being particularly hostile towards the negroes, who gave her a wide berth, to avoid the missiles, which she threw with considerable force and accuracy. The North Anna, meeting with its sister stream, the South Anna, a few miles lower down, forms the sluggish Pamunkey, which in its turn combines with the Mattapony, and becomes the York river, under which name the associated streams fall into the Chesapeake.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-05

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.17
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.17

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by John Reekie, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; A pretentious title for a collection of about a dozen ordinary Virginia houses, including blacksmith shop and store; yet what memories crowd upon the mind at the mention of its name. Memories of the grand old Army of the Potomac, in its youthful flush, digging, hewing, and battling courageously with the Confederates, and their deadly ally, the Chickahominy; of tropical rains that in a day would transform luxuriant meadows into lakes, and make surging floods where before were stagnant pools; of bridges, built through swamps by armed battalions, and of that storm of battle which ended at Malvern Hill. Early in June, 1862, as the Army of the Potomac extended its wings along both banks of the Chickahominy, Mechanicsville fell into our possession. There was a struggle at Beaver Dam Creek and on the neighboring fields, the defenders finally retreating in disorder down the pike, and over the bridge, towards Richmond, three and a half miles distant. The skirmishers sacked the store and dwellings, the blacksmith's forge was immediately put in use by the cavalry and artillery, and the surgeons took possession of the houses for hospitals.; The pickets of each army watched the bridge with jealous eyes till the Union lines were withdrawn, on the 26th of June, and the enemy retaking the village, forced an engagement at Beaver Dam Creek, where they were repulsed by Fitz John Porter's troops. The two-story house, with a fence, seen in the photograph, is on the turnpike to Richmond. In front of this house a barricade was thrown across the road, which was defended by two howitzers, planted to sweep the pike in case a dash should be made by the enemy for the recovery of the place.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-04

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.45
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.45

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.The Old Tobacco Warehouse is too well known to need much description.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; The Old Tobacco Warehouse is too well known to need much description. This view was taken after the time was passed when Union officers and men looked wearily through the tiara at the monotonous flow of the James, and wondered how much longer they could endure without going mad; or peeping out into the street at the risk of being fired at by some sentry, watched the relief on its rounds, or the arrival of more prisoners to swell the already overcrowded numbers in durance. The Union flag floats upon the building, and the tables are turned. Rebel prisoners occupy the floors, so lately filled by Northern soldiers, with permission to kick up their heels to their hearts' content. There is a little crowd around the door at the corner, formed of destitute persona seeking relief. It was in this office the Union prisoners were received by the prison-keepers, and coolly dispoiled of any little trifles left about their persona, by their captors. The lower windows on the end of the building, light some of the small cells in the foundation, where officers were placed for punishment. It was here that Captains Flynn and Sawyer were confined, pending the retaliatory execution, to which they were condemned by the rebel authorities, and fortunately prevented by the prompt measures adopted by our Government. When Turner – brother of the notorious Dick – gave himself up, to escape vengeance at the hands of the soldiers, he was deposited in one of these places, that he might have a chance to appreciate the misery of some of those he had so ruthlessly confined there. This view of the Libby is taken from Castle Thunder, a warehouse of the same order of architecture.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-04

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.39
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.39

Photograph of Marshall House, Alexandria, VA. The view of Alexandria shows that the town was rather built up. The Marshall House is on the corner surrounded by many other buildings, such as the Dry Good Store, the Bookstore, and the "Great Western Clothing House".

Description (Brief): Photograph of Marshall House, Alexandria, VA. The view of Alexandria shows that the town was rather built up. The Marshall House is on the corner surrounded by many other buildings, such as the Dry Good Store, the Bookstore, and the "Great Western Clothing House". There are a couple women standing outside the shops, which are surrounded by sidewalk.
Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by William R. Pywell, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; The Marshall House, at the commencement of the war, was a dingy old hotel, kept by a man generally known in that section by the name of Jim Jackson. It was in this building that Col. Ellsworth of the New York Fire Zouaves was killed, in May, 1861. Our troops had surprised and captured the city just before daylight, and as Col, Ellsworth was posting his troops about the town, he discovered a Confederate flag waving from the roof of the Marshall House. Accompanied by Private Brownell, the Colonel went up through the building after the flag, and on coming down was shot on the stair case by the proprietor, Jackson. Brownell instantly killed Jackson, and with others hurried to Washington with Ellsworth's remains.; The intelligence of his death was kept from the Zouaves for several hours, until measures could be taken to prevent them from destroying the city, which it was feared they would attempt in revenge for killing of their commander. Brownell was shortly after appointed lieutenant in the regular army. Relic hunters soon carried away from the hotel everything movable, including the carpets, furniture, and window shutters, and cut away the whole of the staircase and door where Ellsworth was shot. Finally Northern men took possession of the building, and fitted it up for business so, so changing the interior as to be scarcely recognizable by those who visited it in 1861.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1862-08

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0334.01
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0334.01

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.

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

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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.; The Village of Fairfax Court-House, Virginia, eighteen miles from Washington, was, previous to the rebellion, one of the loveliest of the State. Numbering about three thousand inhabitants, with three large hotels, two fine churches, and a flourishing female institute, the place had become of considerable importance at the time of secession, from which it was the first to suffer. Each of the many commands which occupied the town during the war added to the work of devastation commenced in 1861, and long before peace was announced its comeliness had departed. Its best houses were burned, the churches were converted into hospitals, and then into stables, while the venerable Court-House was stripped of its wood-work, leaving only the naked walls and roof. In 1864, loop-holes were cut through the sides of the building for riflemen and troops stationed in it to repel any attack that might be made by guerillas who constantly hovered in the vicinity. The records kept here were of great historical interest, dating from the early settlement of Virginia, and including many documents in the writing of General Washington. A great number of these were carried off by curiosity hunters in the sacking which took place in September, 1862, and a still greater number were ruthlessly destroyed by the soldiery. Generals McClellan and Hooker each temporarily had their headquarters here when in command of the Army of the Potomac, as did also the lamented Sumner, and other officers of equal rank. The battle-field of Bull Run is ten miles distant, and Chantilly, where the gallant Kearney and Stephens fell, but five miles away.; The village is now, however, rapidly recovering from its misfortunes. Shattered houses have been repaired, families are returning to their homes, the Court-House is being put in order for the occupation of the courts, and, under the influence of Northern enterprise, the town promises soon to wear even more beauty than it ever knew before.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1863-06

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0334.03
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0334.03

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 view exhibits the bomb-proof quarters occupied by both officers and men in Fort Sedgwick.

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 view exhibits the bomb-proof quarters occupied by both officers and men in Fort Sedgwick. Excavations were made in the ground, and covered first with heavy pieces of timber, over which a layer of earth, of several feet in thickness, is thrown, suffcient [sic] to resist the penetration and explosion of any shell that might fall upon them. The interior of these habitations were made as comfortable as possible, according to the taste of the proprietor. Each had its fire-place, and, in the absence of brick and stone, sticks of wood and barrels were used to build the chimneys, being well plastered in the interior by mud to prevent them from taking fire. In many works, regular bomb-proof quarters were constructed. The scene presents a singular and grotesque appearance – to be appreciated it must be seen; no description will prove adequate. Few know the hardships and discomforts through which soldiers have to pass, and still they appear happy and contented. Fort Sedgwick is one of the most advanced points of the United States lines, standing boldly forward, and constantly inviting attack. The work is a very irregular one, and is thrown across the Jerusalem Plank Road, one of the most important thoroughfares leading out of Petersburg. It is a place of very great interest, on account of its exposed and prominent position for so long a period. Scarcely a day passed without witnessing a heavy artillery duel, and each hour of those many long and weary months, as two brave armies lay opposite to each other, could be heard the shrill, sharp report of some leaden messenger of death. It was here, as elsewhere, that only the reckless would dare expose the slightest part of the person even for a second, and well does this noted spot deserve the not very euphonious name to ears polite, as given by the soldiers, of "Fort Hell."; Nearly opposite to this work is Fort Mahone, known by the men as "Fort Damnation." The distance between the main lines here is about fifteen hundred feet, and between the pickets two hundred, the latter almost as strong as the former. On the morning of the 2d of April, 1865, this ground became consecrated and holy to the memory of the brave soldiers who fell in that glorious assault upon the opposing batteries, and to those who so courageously defended their post of honor – it was strewn with the dead and dying.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-05

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.33
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.33

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by John Reekie, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; This sad scene represents the soldiers in the act of collecting the remains of their comrades, killed at the battles of Gaines' Mill and Cold Harbor. It speaks ill of the residents of that part of Virginia, that they allowed even the remains of those they considered enemies, to decay unnoticed where they fell. The soldiers, to whom commonly falls the task of burying the dead, may possibly have been called away before the task was completed. At such times the native dwellers of the neighborhood would usually come forward and provide sepulture for such as had been left uncovered. Cold Harbor, however, was not the only place were [sic] Union men were left unburied. It was so upon the field of the first Bull Run battle, where the rebel army was encamped for six months afterwards. Perhaps like the people of Gettysburg, they wanted to know first "who was to pay them for it." After that battle, the soldiers hastened in pursuit of the retiring columns of Lee, leaving a large number of the dead unburied. The Gettysburgers were loud in their complaints, and indignantly made the above quoted inquiry as to the remuneration, upon being told they must finish the burial rites themselves.; Among the unburied on the Bull Run field, a singular discovery was made, which might have led to the identification of the remains of a soldier. An orderly turning over a skull upon the ground, heard something within it rattle, and searching for the supposed bullet, found a glass eye.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-04

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.44
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.44

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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.; The ingenuity and taste of the American soldier is strikingly illustrated in the variety of architecture with which he adorns his summer quarters. A permanent camp is invariably surrounded by evergreens; and if a regiment bivouac but for a day, the spot will long after be marked by the leafy bowers erected before each tent. The forests are ransacked for the brightest foliage, branches of the pine, cedar, and holly are laboriously collected, and the work of beautifying the quarters continued as long as material can be procured. Camps are surrounded with neat hedges, arches bearing the corps badge and other devices are erected at the entrances, and the tents sheltered from the sun by roofs of deftly woven twigs and leaves. Sometimes a framework is erected around a number of tents, upon which is fastened a thick covering of evergreens, completely hiding the interior, and forming a home delightfully cool, even in the hottest days. Thus secluded, the wives of officers, in their brief visits to the front, find a most pleasant abiding place, from which they return with reluctance to city homes. An indescribable charm surrounds such life. There is the glittering show of the army, all the beauty that skill can add to nature's work, and an endless round of festivity like that of the merriest picnic.; A camp thus embowered, with the regiments parading, the arms glittering like silver, and the music of the bands swelling on the breeze, presents a scene of beauty rarely excelled. Its recollections are treasured among the happiest memories of the field, and many a country woman will wear a brighter dress for the lessons of adornment army life has taught.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1864-01

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.07
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.07

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by W. Morris Smith, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.Here is shown one of the Monuments erected in memory of the Union dead who fell at the battles of Bull Run and Groveton.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by W. Morris Smith, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; Here is shown one of the Monuments erected in memory of the Union dead who fell at the battles of Bull Run and Groveton. The Monuments are of chocolate colored sandstone, twenty-seven feet high, and were erected by the officers and men of General Gamble's separate cavalry brigade, camped at Fairfax Court-House. The Monument on the first Bull Run field is situated on the hill in front of the memorable stone house, on the spot where the 14th Brooklyn, 1st Michigan, and 1st and 2d Maine were most hotly engaged, and where Ricketts and Griffin lost their batteries. The shaft is twenty-seven feet high, and bears upon its top a hundred pound shell. On the pedestal at each corner is a shell of similar size. On one side of the shaft is inscribed, "To the memory of the patriots who fell at Bull Run, July 21st, 1861," and on the reverse, "Erected June 10th, 1865." The Monument at Groveton is similar in its proportions, bearing the inscription "To the memory of the patriots who fell at Groveton, August 29, 1862," and on the reverse also, "Erected June 10th, 1865."; The dedicatory exercises were conducted on the first Bull Run field, by Rev. Dr. McMurdy, who read an appropriate service, which was followed by a hymn written for the occasion by Pierpont, a military parade by the 5th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Colonel Gallup, and a salute by the 16th Massachusetts Battery, Captain Scott. At the close of these ceremonies, eloquent addresses were delivered by Judge Olin, General Wilcox, General Heintzelman, and General Farnsworth. At the second Monument the services were similar to those described.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-06

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.50
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.50

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Barnard & Gibson, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.This sketch represents a portion of the Confederate fortifications at Manassas after their occupation by the Federal Army.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Barnard & Gibson, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; This sketch represents a portion of the Confederate fortifications at Manassas after their occupation by the Federal Army. The works were laid out by General Beauregard, well known as an engineer of great ability; but their construction illustrates the inexperience in military matters of the men who rallied at this spot to resist the authority of the Government. The casks were filled with earth, and were intended to supply the lack of more suitable gabions, but would have offered very little resistance to artillery. The flooring was laid for the use of the guns, the four short posts marking the embrasure. The interior of the works was badly drained, and the trenches were almost constantly filled with stagnant water. The fortifications formed a semi-circle about four miles in length, but contiguous to this position were the ridges and earthworks of Centreville, extending the line to nearly fifteen miles. The armament consisted principally of six and twelvepounder field batteries, with a few old fashioned thirty-twos, brought from the Norfolk Navy Yard. Located, however, upon high table-land, bounded by ravines and the almost impenetrable thickets bordering Bull Run, the works did not require, very heavy ordnance. Had they been assaulted, the musket and bayonet would have proved far more serviceable in repelling the attack than artillery, although there is no doubt that the small number of heavy cannon was attributable to their scarcity in the South rather than to confidence in the natural strength of the position. The fortifications are now rapidly being leveled, and in a few years will have entirely disappeared. The soil composing them is of a light character, and washes away in every rain, filling up the ditches and reducing the sharply defined works to sloping mounds, over which the farmer's plow is already turning the furrow.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1862-03

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0334.11
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0334.11

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.

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

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.

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 fort is constructed on the ground known as "Hare's Hill." The position was taken by Gibbons' Division of the Second Corps during a general assault on the 17th of June, 1864. It was one of the most advanced positions of the Union troops during the entire siege of Petersburg. At this point the main lines of the two armies were opposed to each other from the above date to the evacuation on the morning of the 3d of April, 1865. The distance between the two was not over six hundred feet, and between the respective picket lines not more than two hundred. It was the scene of attack by Gordon's Division of the rebel army on the 25th of March, and the Fort temporarily held for a few hours. The enemy, however, was compelled to retire in consequence of the heavy artillery fire on both flanks and from the rear, and by a well-directed attack of Hartranft's Division of the Ninth Corps. This assault was really the initiative movement of the campaign by the Army of Northern Virginia, which ended in its surrender on the 9th of April, 1865. The centre of the picture shows the parapet of the work and the manner in which the earth composing it is reveted or supported by the trunks of pines placed horizontally, then, by gabions and fascines, topped by sand bags. On the left the picture shows the exterior of an officers' quarters, and on the right a mound of earth, forming the outside covering of a powder magazine. The trees bear many marks of the compliments paid by the enemy during the almost daily severe artillery duels which took place between the two opposing armies during the long siege. It will be seen, too, that the embrasures are guarded by heavy iron gates to protect the gunners from the deadly aim of the enemy's sharpshooters. Matelots, made of rope, are frequently used for the same purpose.; In front of Fort Steadman lies Colquitt's salient of the enemy's line, a point worthy the attention of the tourist. The suburban regions occupied by his troops is well deserving of an inspection. One of the notable occurrences of the day on which the assault on Fort Stedman took place on the right, and whilst at the same time a demonstration on the left was being made, the President of the United States reviewed a portion of the Army of the Potomac between the two hostile flanks.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1865-05

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0283.34
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0283.34

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.

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

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by William R. Pywell, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.In many of the Southern cities the people had erected buildings of this kind for the confinement of slaves awaiting sale.

Description: Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by William R. Pywell, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.; In many of the Southern cities the people had erected buildings of this kind for the confinement of slaves awaiting sale. The establishment represented in the photograph was situated in the western suburbs of Alexandria, near the depot of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The main building was used by the clerks of the firm and the overseers. The high brick wall enclosed a court yard, in which were stables and outhouses for the accommodation of planters who come in for the purpose of selling or purchasing slaves. The large building on the right was used for the confinement of the negroes. It had a number of apartments, in which the slaves could be kept singly or in gangs, and one large mess room, where they received their food, The establishment was essentially a prison. The doors were very strong, and were secured by large locks and bolts. Iron bars were fixed in the masonry of the windows, and manacles were frequently placed on the limbs of those suspected of designs for escape. Auction sales were regularly held, at which Virginia farmers disposed of their servants to cotton and sugar planters from the Gulf States. If a slave-owner needed money which he could not easily procure, he sold one of his slaves; and the threat of being sent South was constantly held over the servants as security for faithful labor and good behavior. Before the war, a child three years old, would sell, in Alexandria, for about fifty dollars, and an able-bodied man at from one thousand to eighteen hundred dollars. A woman would bring from five hundred to fifteen hundred dollars, according to her one and personal attractions.
Location: Currently not on view

date made: 1863-08

maker: Gardner, Alexander

ID Number: 1986.0711.0334.02
accession number: 1986.0711
catalog number: 1986.0711.0334.02

Photography

Plate 79. The Pulpit, Fort Fisher, N.C.

Plate 99. McLean's House, Appomattox Court-House, Where Grant and Lee signed the Capitulation

Plate 75. Mortar Dictator

Plate 65. Jericho Mills, on the North Anna

Plate 81. View of the Petersburg Gas Works

Plate 86. Interior View of Confederate Works at Gracie's Salient

Plate 80. Johnson's Mill, near Petersburg

Plate 74. Poplar Grove Church, built by the 50th N.Y.V. Engineers

Plate 62. U.S. Military Telegraph Construction Corps

Plate 67. Quarles' Mills, on the North Anna

Plate 95. Mechanicsville, Virginia

Plate 89. Libby Prison, Richmond

Plate 1. Marshal House, Alexandria

Plate 73. U.S. Military Telegraph Battery Wagon

Plate 3. Fairfax Court House

Plate 83. Quarters of Men in Fort Sedgwick, Generally Known as Fort Hell

Plate 94. A Burial Party on the Battle-field of Cold Harbor

Plate 57. Camp Architecture

Plate 100. Dedication of Momument on Bull Run Battle-Field

Plate 11. Fortifications at Manassas

Plate 56. Headquarters New York Herald, in the Field

Plate 84. View of the Interior of Fort Steadman

Plate 59. Battery A, Fourth U.S. Artillery, Robertson's Brigade

Plate 2. Slave Pen, Alexandria