In a somber photograph taken by Timothy O'Sullivan, members of a burial detail in Fredericksburg, Virginia, bury men who died at nearby Union field hospitals, where soldiers wounded in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania were treated.
Wool bunting pennant flag. White field with a blue border on the hoist edge. There is a red six-point star inset in the center of the flag. White cotton hoist is machine-stitched and does not have grommets. Flag seams are flat-felled and machine-stitched. Inscription on hoist reads "2nd Brg. 1st Div. 8 Army Corps".
Rectangular wool bunting flag. White field with a large blue Maltese cross in the center of the flag. Reinforcement squares of fabric at both hoist corners. Undyed heading with a metal grommet at each end. Inscription on hoist reads "5TH ARMY/CORPS 3RD DIVISION".
Mathew Brady on July 22, 1861 after he returned from Bull Run. Image is a full (head to foot) studio portrait; Brady wears a straw hat, shirt, pants and long duster coat. The hilt of a sword sticks out from under the coat at Brady's waist. Inscription on image: "Photo taken July 22, 1861, Brady - the Photographer returned from Bull Run;" on the card below the photo "M.B. Brady, Wash. D.C."; and on the back: "Brady's National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Historical Photography, Pa Ave. & 13th, Washington, D.C." The photo is in sepia tone; edges are scalloped and gold-edged all around.
Purple cartes-de-visite album, four to a page, with "United States" embossed on the cover. Twenty-two pages of portriats of Union generals, President Lincoln and his cabinet members by various photographers including Brady Studios and Alexander Gardner. Two pages of Confederate leaders, generals and soldiers. Each of the cartes-de-visites are hand-inscribed, in German, below the image with the sitter's name and sometimes title. Apparently, the album was compiled for someone in Europe during the Civil War. The album passed through generations until it ultimately was returned to the GAF corporation, by an heir who no longer wanted it, but was unsure as to where to send it, and recognized it value. It was returned to GAF, as the parent company was Anthony and Scoville who helped finance Brady's effort to document the Civil War.
The struggle between North and South was followed with great interest at home and abroad. Portraits of the leading players helped those far from the action imagine the individuals they read about in newspapers. This album was kept by Karl Schenk, who became president of Switzerland in 1865. It contains small portraits known as cartes-de-visite because they were about the size of calling cards people presented at the door when visiting fashionable residences. Introduced in the late 1850s, when a process was devised for making multiple prints from a single glass negative, they functioned mainly as collectables to be preserved in albums.
This is the nineteenth page in an album of cartes-de-visite portraits of American Civil War figures assembled by the President of Switzerland, Karl Schenk. This album page contains portraits of Union leaders: Major General Sheridan, Major General Kilpatrick, Major General Custer, and Major General Stoneman. Schenk's son gave the album to General Charles Hodges, a Civil War veteran, whose niece, Aileen Taylor, donated it to the Smithsonian in 1951.
Using lenses like the Globe Wide-Angle Lens, photographers were able to visually record the war. In the words of Mathew Brady, the camera was now "the eye of history."
Soldiers like this Union sergeant often posed for studio portraits with handguns. Some were their own weapons, but most were provided as props by photographers.
Professor Joseph Henry was the first Secretary of the Smithsonian. In the earliest days the Smithsonian consisted of a single building, the Castle, which housed a museum, library, Henry's family, and other facilities. At the onset of the Civil War, Henry faced questions about his loyalty to the Union. He had close friends that favored succession and as a "scientific racist," Henry believed that people of African descent were biologically inferior. He opposed the abolition of slavery and was criticized for halting a lecture series on that subject and refusing to allow Frederick Douglas to speak. However, Henry did contribute to the Union war effort. He backed Thaddeus Lowe, an aeronaut who conducted military reconnaissance in balloons. Henry also served on a scientific commission that evaluated proposed inventions and designs for the U.S. Navy.
This intriguing ambrotype shows what appears to be a soldier in a Zouave uniform advancing with weapon in hand. The man shown here-- whether he was a soldier or a civilian portraying one is unknown-- was actually posing for photographer and abolitionist T.P. Collins, likely as a study for a painting.
This is the twenty-third page in an album of cartes-de-visite portraits of American Civil War figures assembled by the President of Switzerland, Karl Schenk. This page features Confederate leaders: General Johnston, Lieutenant General Longstreet, Major General Magruder, and Colonel Mosby, the elusive "Gray Ghost."
Schenk's album contains pictures of Abraham Lincoln and many other Northern political and military leaders as well as some of their Southern counterparts. Jefferson Davis appears here in a formal portrait taken by Mathew Brady along with other prominent officers who served under him.
Wool bunting pennant flag. White field with a red border at the hoist. In the center of the flag is a blue fan-leaved cross with an octagonal center (similar to a Maltese cross). White hoist with no grommets. The inscription on the hoist reads "3rd Div. 2nd Brg. 19 th Army Corps R. C. Toy 49 N. 9th Phila."
Wool bunting pennant flag. White field with a red five-point star in the center of the flag. White cotton hoist with no grommets. The inscription on the hoist reads "1st Div 1st Brg 20th Army Corps Dept of/Cumberland R.C. Toy 49 N. 9th Phila." The flag is machine-stitched with flat-felled seams using white cotton thread.
Although large and cumbersome by today's standards, field cameras and lenses let photography move outside of the studio and into the landscape, allowing for the creation of images seared into our collective memories. The wet-plate collodion process required wet and dry chemicals and processing trays to prepare plates and develop the negatives.
A stereoscope, like this one, and stereoviews provided the public with captivating three-dimensional views of the Civil War to experience at home. Stereoviews were produced using cameras with two lenses, through which the photographer took two pictures. When viewed side-by-side on a stereoscope, these pictures were perceived as one three-dimensional image. Stereoscopes came in a variety of styles and were handsomely designed to blend in with Victorian parlor decor. Some were handheld devices, some were freestanding, others were housed in attractive tabletop cabinets.
This is the fifth page in an album of cartes-de-visite portraits of American Civil War figures assembled by the President of Switzerland, Karl Schenk. The cartes-de-visite featured here are Union figures and include Admiral David Farragut, Major General David Hunter who tried the conspirators involved with the assassination of President Lincoln, Brigadier General Marsena Patrick, and Major General Montgomery C. Meigs.
This “memorandum for change” was Mt. Pleasant Apothecary’s solution to the coin shortage. By making customers redeem the value of these notes in sums of a one-dollar or more, the business could expect returning clientele.
This is another example of private bank notes that were issued during the Civil War. This particular ten-dollar note was issued from The Allegany County Bank in Cumberland, Maryland. The American Bank Note Company printed this specimen as well as other private bank and Federal Government paper currencies.
This tintype depicts a portrait of a Union artilleryman. The insignia on his coat and had have been painted gold and his cheeks have been tinted pink. An order issued by the U.S. War Department in 1858 called for enlisted men to receive each year one dress hat such as the Hardee hat this man is wearing and a fatigue or forage cap.