Photo Essays

On May 24, 1861, 24-year-old Elmer E. Ellsworth—colonel of the 11th New York Infantry—was shot and killed by the pro-secessionist proprietor of the Marshall House, an inn located in Alexandria, Virginia, after the young officer removed a Confederate flag that flew from its roof. Ellsworth, who had risen to fame before the war while touring the country with his military drill team, the Zouave ...

How did Americans observe Christmas and the New Year during the Civil War? Illustrated newspapers, like Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's, published many illustrations throughout the conflict that showed readers how their fellow countrymen marked the holiday season, both in the army and on the homefront.

On July 21, 1861, Union and Confederae forces clashed just north of Manassas, Virginia, in the war's first major land battle. The engagment brought together inexperienced northern and southern volunteers, most of whom expected a quick, relatively bloodless, and decisive victory. The result was a battle whose outcome remained up in the air until a late Confederate push that broke the Union army's...

“That is the last speech he will ever make.” So remarked John Wilkes Booth on April 11, 1865, after listening to President Abraham Lincoln deliver remarks outside the White House. Speaking to a crowd of thousands only two days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Lincoln had mentioned

On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation—which declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free"—went into effect. Drafted the previous summer, and announced shortly after the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, the proclamation—an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln—changed the legal status of enslaved people...

Published in 1890, "The Mountain Campaigns in Georgia"--a slim volume devoted to telling the story of the battles fought along the Western & Atlantic Railroad--boasted a number of detailed illustrations by leading artists of the day, including Alfred R. Waud and Thure de Thulstrup. Waud, boasted the book's author, had "personally visited all of the battlefields depicted," and all of the sketches...

On July 18, 1863, Union troops commanded by Brigadier General Quincy Gillmore launched an attack on Fort Wagner, the Confederate bastion that protected Morris Island, located south of Charleston Harbor—part of the larger Federal attempt to capture the city of Charleston. While the assault failed, the men of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the African-Americann regiment commanded by Colonel ...

Artist Edwin Forbes was present to sketch the elaborate St. Patrick's Day festivities that were held in the camp of the Irish Brigade in 1863.

In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in hopes of obtaining the necessary weapons to arm a successful slave insurrection throughout the region. The raid failed, and by year's end Brown was dead, hanged after being convicted of treason and inciting slave insurrection. The impact of his actions would live on, however; Brown remained a...

Few regions offer a denser concentration of Civil War history than Central Virginia. The historical significance of the region is reason enough to visit, but the fact that you can retrace the conflict’s final major campaigns within the span of 24 hours makes it too good to miss.

A look at the contents of a typical U.S. Army Surgical Kit...

A look, through images, at Confederate president Jefferson Davis ...

A look at Sherman's March to the Sea through images...

An illustrated look at the clashes between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee during the Overland Campaign

A look at the Civil War artwork of Winslow Homer

Between July 25 and July 1, 1862, George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia battled on the outskirts of Richmond. The fate of the Confederacy lay in the balance. Here are images that help tell the story of the Seven Days Battles.

Take a mini tour of the newly opened American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia.

"An army marches on its stomach." Variations of this statement have been attributed to great historical leaders, including Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte, over the last 150 years. The sentiment certainly held true during the Civil War, during which hundreds of thousands of hungry Union and Confederate soldiers required sustenance on any given day. Below are images that reflect the...

During the Civil War, the prominent lithography firm Currier and Ives produced inexpensive prints of the conflict and its participants based on original drawings by some of the country’s leading artists.

“My plans are perfect, and when I start to carry them out, may God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.” So said Major General Joseph Hooker in mid-April 1863 to a group of Union officers about his strategy for defeating Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Hooker,