Hawkeyes! Faces and stories of Iowa volunteers in the Civil War
Curated by Michael Huston and featuring portraits from the image collecting community Introduced by Robert Welch I am always moved by their faces. As these men and boys stare back at
Category: 2023 Winter
A Captain for a Captain: A forgotten act of honor connects two prisoners of war, one from Georgia and another from Iowa
By Laura Elliott Honor. Duty. Acts of kindness. Extending benevolence to soldiers on the opposite side. Incidents reflecting these noble traits were documented by the men who performed them, by
Small Miracles: Abbottypes were a bold experiment in mass-produced wearable melainotypes and a unique snapshot of the Civil War in 1861
By Ronald S. Coddington and Nicholas Penachio, with images from the authors’ collections What if the Civil War had been the short affair many Americans initially believed? Imagine Bull Run
The Army Education of John D. Billings: A letter by the author of Hard Tack and Coffee reveals how his wartime military experience helped him become an educator
By Mike Fitzpatrick Late in his life in the spring of 1929, Union veteran and retired school principal John Davis Billings received a letter from Lucy Bowen, a young woman
Q&A with Kean Wilcox: Reminiscences of Collecting Cased Military Images, 1978-2002
One of the many joys of paging through back issues of Military Images is getting acquainted with collectors who were active during its early years. They shared their excitement and
The 28th Iowa Infantry Jacket
By Ronald S. Coddington “While not originally uniformed as Zouaves this regiment created one of the most unique and readily identifiable uniforms of the war,” writes Daniel J. Miller in
U.S. Capitol Building and Dome Backdrops
By Adam Ochs Fleischer A central theme of this column since its inception is that backdrops used in Civil War images generally suggest the photographer’s location. It can be fairly
The Water Tiger vs. the Long Board With a Hogshead
By Scott Valentine Corporal William Charles Henry Reeder sent dozens of letters to his parents about his Civil War experience. A keen observer, Reeder and his comrades in the 20th
Conflicting Clues, Cobalt Blue, and a Trio of Pards
Cobalt glass creates a fittingly appropriate blue hue in this ambrotype of a Union officer. The background painting appears in other portraits credited to Stephen Evans of St. Louis.
Ancestors, Living History and Photo Sleuthing Inspires a Mission
By Michael Huston When I was 10 years old, my grandfather showed me a binder with genealogy information and a portrait photograph of a Civil War soldier. The stern look