The Winter 2026 Issue of Military Images Magazine

Confederate images take center stage in this issue.

Two years ago, Executive Editor Rick Brown and I spent almost three days making digital versions of the images of Paul Reeder, an avid collector who has dedicated a significant portion of his life to assembling wartime portraits of Confederate and Union soldiers. He would find images published in books and then hunt down the originals, making deals to add them to his collection. As Paul is working on a forthcoming book about his collection, I’m pleased to share representative Confederates in our cover story—a sweeping survey of his finest images in Southern Exposures, authored by Senior Editor Ron Field, a foremost authority on Southern uniforms.

One of Paul’s images, a Confederate soldier in a “Sicilian”-style stocking cap adorned with a bold secession cockade, gripping a D-Guard Bowie knife and a Model 1842 musket, is our cover.

You’ll find more Confederates in Phil Spaugy’s Of Arms and Men, which revisits an 1861 view of the 9th Mississippi Infantry at Camp Magnolia, capturing the regiment as it crossed from militia organization into Confederate service.

Then, there’s Confederate adjacent material to consume. Military Anthropologist presents a sweeping analysis of 1,125 West Point graduates from 1802–1864, revealing that one in three ultimately wore Confederate gray. Stragglers offers compelling images of Union and Confederate musicians, a Mississippi soldier, a Richmond monument, and what may be a field hospital after Blackburn’s Ford. The Last Shot is based on an image of Bob Dillard, an enslaved man who spent the Mexican and Civil wars in the orbit of Capt. John Dillard—a rare glimpse into the life and times of a 19th century man of color.

Several columns cross generations. Antebellum Warriors examines the 19th-century militia system and the state-level reforms that helped shape today’s National Guard, featuring a wonderful daguerreotype by first time contributor Bret Calderhead. Most Hallowed Ground recounts George Armes’ ride under intense fire at Cold Harbor as he carried orders for Maj. Gen. Hancock to Maj. Gen. Francis Barlow—and traces Armes’ long military career after the Civil War. The Honored Few by Evan Phifer details the journey of Henry Goodwin of the 27th Maine, whose Medal of Honor—rescinded in the early 20th century—is a narrative about how the criteria for the decoration evolved over time.

And one feature spans more than a half century in Twice Dismissed, Never Defeated, Michael F. Fitzpatrick’s account of Robley “Fighting Bob” Evans, whose adventurous youth and Civil War service set him on a remarkable rise to rear admiral.

Women’s history is showcased in Melissa A. Winn’s Women of War, which follows the meteoric rise and tragic decline of Kate Chase—Washington socialite, political thinker, daughter of Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, and wife of Gov. William Sprague. From elite influence to personal collapse, her life mirrors the turbulence of the era. And The Citizenry by Elizabeth A. Topping sets the record straight about women at the 1864 Metropolitan Fair’s Normandy Confectionery booth being attendants, not nurses.

Union perspectives can be found in A Wisconsin Sharpshooter’s Changing Face as Jeff McArdle traces Pvt. Henry Lye through multiple portraits and a heartfelt trail of letters—from marches to Chancellorsville and the Peninsula to his death on July 2 at Gettysburg, and the grief felt by Almira Sherrer. Scott Valentine’s Vignette traces Capt. Alvin B. Franklin of the 8th Vermont Infantry through his ordeals under fire.

Material Culture continues with Dr. Charles H. Cureton’s study of Marine Corps boy musicians, their unique uniforms, and the early-war Horstmann sword pattern captured in a Brooklyn studio portrait. Behind the Backdrop by Buck Zaidel explores a primitive painted camp scene by photographer Julia Emma Jones.

Book enthusiasts can get our take on two new offerings in Passing in Review, which highlights James Linden Hogg’s A Day the War Stopped: The story of a Civil War truce, and New York City in the Civil War by Jonathan W. White and Timothy J. Orr.

For you researchers and/or mystery lovers, Kurt Luther’s Photo Sleuth restores the identities of Maj. Alphonzo Nicholds and his wife, Julia—an intimate reminder of how close-up detective work can rescue forgotten lives.

Last but not least, image collectors will appreciate the human side of the hobby in Q&A, where Deena C. Bouknight interviews Cara Arnold of The Horse Soldier about her path into image appraisal and the broader world of Civil War material culture. Editor’s Desk pays tribute to the late Rick Carlile, honoring his mentorship and the steady hand he extended to collectors and students of Civil War photography.