Greenback Pay Day
By Mike Fitzpatrick As a result of the war, the federal government suspended specie payments to maintain its bullion reserves. The move forced Congress in 1861 to authorize the U.S.
Category: The Last Shot
Starr Power
A Confederate brandishes a cocked Starr revolver, the most prominently pictured of three weapons. The others, a Colt pistol and a bone-handled knife, are tucked into his belt, which is
Gettysburg Memory
The death of Col. Harry Burgwyn at the head of his 26th North Carolina Infantry during the first day’s fight at Gettysburg is deeply embedded in battlefield lore. Less remembered
Badge of Honor
This clean-shaven soldier sports a crocheted patriotic badge with tassels pinned to his distinctive uniform. His jacket, trimmed with a taped outline around the chest, and McDowell-style forage cap mark
Accusations
The pencil inscriptions above the portraits of these Union officers leave no question about the point of view of the unnamed writers. The major pictured on the left is branded
A Reminder of War’s Human Cost
A carte de visite with photographs pasted on the front and back remind us of the human cost of war. On the front, a revolver and sword lying on top
Rule of Thumb
A photographer captured this Union officer giving the time-honored gesture of derision or disdain. His technique matches an instruction printed in an 1863 issue of the Semi-Weekly Wisconsin of Milwaukee:
“Bombs Bursting in Air”
A cannonball at the feet of this federal would have been filled with an exploding charge and capped with a fuse in the visible hole. This type of ammunition illustrates
Wed by the “Famous Fighting Methodist Preacher”
One spring day in 1864, John W. Widney and Mary A. Fitzwater Brown were married in Orange, Ohio. The newlyweds were accompanied by John’s mother, Eliza, and Mary’s brother, John.