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'Civil War Photos'

Thanks for posting Panther. Many of the photos are very grim. Would you know if these photos were taken by T. O'Sullivan or M. Brady?
 
Those are really interesting. Years and years ago, while in grad school, I took an elective course on the history of America through the orators. The course was so interesting that I later toured the eastern states and visited the civil War and Revolution sites.
 
Incredible that America split apart back then, neighbors literally shooting at each other.

Thank the Lord that war is over. We've come a long ways.


Thanks for the heads up Panther.



Bill
 
Having grown up in the heart of the south, living next to a major War of Northern Aggression battlefield (Chickamauga, GA)and being a living historian of the civil war for most of my life. A lot of these photos are images that I am familiar with and some are like family photos, the subjects of the photos are instantly recognizable to me. My hometown county formed no less than 7 companies of infantry for the Confederacy as well as 5 companies for the Union. It was not only neighbor against neighbor but in many cases it was brother against brother and son against father.

Being a re-enactor I have traveled all over the East Coast and through out the south visiting the sites of many of the battles and places of interest of the period, from Florida all the way to New York and as far West as Texas. I've camped in many of the same spots as those gentlemen did, awakened to many of the same sounds, sights and smells, but all without that feeling of not knowing if this day is going to be your last. We (re-enactors) have a saying that describes a moment that it actually feels like the 1860's and you are there, it's called a "Magic Moment." I've had just a couple and having actually been shot at by people that wanted me dead simply because of where I was from, I got to look into the lives of those men from a different perspective on those occasions. I can honestly say that I don't think men like these exist any longer, at least in the quantities that they used to.

Thanks for the link, I've got it book marked for future reference.

CAD
 
Thanks Panther. Nice site.

Here is a link to the Library of Congress, American Memories Collection, Civil War images home page.

Selected Civil War Photographs (1100+)

Many indeed most of the originals for the photos are to be found in this Library of Congress collection. The LoC has done a great job digitizing and arranging them.

I'm a guy who loves to tromp around Civil War Battlefields- particularly familiar with those in and around my home state of Virginia- I am always interested.

Done some extensive research into the days that Alexander Gardner spent in Richmond just after the Confederate evacuation of the city and have actually put together what I consider to be a pretty good tour that follows Gardner's footsteps around the city. It is a sort of then and now tour stopping to the look and take photos from the exact same locations where Gardner took his photos.

One of the sub categories in the LoC American Memories Collection is "Fallen Richmond" in the 1865 section.
 
redriver6 said:
i've always wanted to do the reenactment thing...maybe when i retire..

i've been to some reenactments...Battle of Pleasant Hill La. 1864 (2006)
Click to expand...

Do it if you can, I can't anymore after getting crippled up in a motorcycle accident in '06, I still go to the local ones and usually just mill around and watch the battles from the sidelines, but God I do miss it. It's hard to march when you can't walk without a cane and told rather frankly, that you'll "never be out of a wheelchair again, at the very least a walker."

CAD
 
@ Redriver6 ... I got personal photos of the time when I, (as a kid) was involved in a local re-enactment group.

They're on film, one day, I'll have to get them converted over to digital. Cazzie mentioned a scanner he bought not too long ago, I may need to look into something like that as I have reams of negatives.

@ Panther, As an avid ACW enthusiast, and an owner of a library containing over 1,000 books on the subject of the ACW, I can truthfully say, I've seen everyone of those shots already. LOL!

Thanks for sharing.
 
I think the original links is a combination of several photographers, including both Brady and O'Sullivan. I could be wrong about that.

When you look at these remember that these photographers were not above staging shots by moving things around to get the impact they wanted. They would have viewed that as simply an extension of their studio work and not seen it in any bad light at all. Today we would view that as manufacturing the news...although I notice many of our media outlets today are not above it when they have an agenda...but generally we look down on it.

The famous "dead sharpshooter at Gettysburg", a poignant view of a dead Confederate, was in fact staged by Brady. He dragged a body over to where he wanted him, then threw in his musket for effect.
 
Like Snuffy, I have seen them all at one time or another, some the originals at various museums.

I have never done re-enactments, but a good friend of mine, the late John Champion did many, and I followed him on his escapades out of my interest in the history of the ACW. I still have harsh feeling about that war, mostly inbred by my genetic background. The best thing the Confederacy could have done at the beginning of the war would been to have freed the slaves like their military leader Robert E. Lee. That act alone would have gained the patrionage of the United Kingdom and France, who feared an imperial United States.

Some of those photos are of Richmond and very familiar to this day. Thanks for posting Panther, this war was a stain in our history and the very same items that brought about that war are still standing, the issue of states rights to free trade and self-government over that of a centralized controlling government.

Caz
 
Thanks for sharing Panther!

Those are incredible photos, heart touching photos. I can only ask why this has to happen.

Wow, and there a lot of photos and preserved too....

I remember my Dad showing me some of his photos taken, how he survived the ugly war (WWII). Thank God it is over. :engel016:
 
I find the poignancy of this thread quite timely. Seeing that it's President's Day. And not meaning to fight the Civil War all over again,....thank heaven's for Ol' Abe staying the course. Truly he was America's martyr.
 
brad kaste said:
Thanks for posting Panther. Many of the photos are very grim. Would you know if these photos were taken by T. O'Sullivan or M. Brady?
Click to expand...

I think Gardner along with his apprentice, Sullivan, did the lions share of the actual battlefield photography.

If you go to the LoC link that I posted (above) all of the originals of these photos are posted and the credits provided.
 
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