By Ronald S. Coddington On May 3, 1855, the council of the Photographic Society of London voted unanimously to investigate a burning question that preoccupied its membership. Why do paper
Chaplain John H. Frazee By Joseph G. Bilby When the troopers of the 3rd New Jersey Cavalry formed in early 1864, they were issued one of the Union army’s most
By Tom Glass Patriotic-themed carte de visite montages generate little interest among today’s collectors. Such composites featuring portraits of generals, admirals and wartime political leaders are dismissed as “fillers” used
By Kurt Luther Photography was the dominant form of professional portraiture during the Civil War. Its ubiquity owed in part to its high fidelity and low cost. However, other forms
By Robert Lee Blankenship Some wore a uniform of gray,Some wore the one of blue,They were brothers from north and south,Some were sons and fathers too, Each one was a
By Ron Field Over the century-and-a-half since Civil War photographers produced portraits, it was not unusual for names and faces to become separated, leaving only scant clues to make an
By Warren “H” Shindle Since the earliest days of photography, practitioners created non-continuous sweeping outdoor views with multiple exposures. These separate, patch-worked together images documented city landscapes, such as a
Port Hudson: Taken from the Body of a Confederate One day in mid-1863, a Confederate soldier died—one of many who fell in defense of Port Hudson, La., the fortress city
By Ron Field Virtually every military encampment had a traveling photographer nearby or within its limits during the Civil War. This was particularly true in the North, where photographic chemicals
By John O’Brien On Jan. 9, 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union. Two days later, Jefferson Davis followed his home state, and resigned from the U.S. Senate with a moving
