The Art of Photo Sleuthing
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
Tag: infantry
Wounded in the Peach Orchard
By Carolyn B. Ivanoff, with images from the Captain Wilson French Collection It is fair to state the zenith of Maj. William H. Hugo’s military career occurred at Gettysburg. In
The Mnemonical Anatomy Professor
Tall, slow-speaking William Henry Gobrecht looked every inch the soldier and might easily be confused for a general. His commanding bearing came not from battlefield glory, but lecture halls where
Gum Blankets and Ammunition Boxes at Bermuda Hundred
An unnamed aide to a Union general observed the favorable position occupied by federals along one section of the front line at Bermuda Hundred, Va., on May 18, 1864. At
Survivor of Vermont’s Deadliest Day
The deadliest day in Vermont history, May 5, 1864, lives in infamy. Hundreds of miles south of the Green Mountain State, in the rough and tumble landscape of The Wilderness
Brutal Assault
John William Fenton brutally assaulted Tony Fisher inside a New Bern, N.C., saloon owned by Fisher, a free black man, on Dec, 15, 1864. According to witnesses, Fenton, a captain
The Refreshingly Honest James Benton on Death, Disease and Life
Civil War letters are the ultimate first draft of the conflict’s history. These intimate writings, packed with news and rumor from the front lines and a longing for home and
What to Do When Gold Standards Go Wrong
By Kurt Luther In photo sleuthing, most of us strive to set a high bar for what constitutes sufficiently strong evidence to identify an unknown soldier portrait. The gold standard
“You Were Making History”: Faces of Maine men who fought at Gettysburg
By Tom Huntington Maine veterans returned to Pennsylvania in October 1889, 26 years after they had fought at Gettysburg with the Army of the Potomac. For three days in July
A Spaniard at Gettysburg
Late during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, gunners from Battery I of the 5th U.S. Artillery fired shell and canister from their position at the Trostle House