The Winter 2024 Issue
Our cover story is a representative sampling of images of Raphael Semmes, the Confederate admiral best known for raiding U.S. commercial shipping worldwide on two vessels, the Sumter and the
Recent Stories
Update: Herb Peck Collection Theft
Our story about the 1978 theft of Confederate and antebellum images from Herb Peck’s Nashville home received an outpouring of attention and action. This is a testament to the compassion
Identified Union Soldiers and Sailors Published In Military Images Magazine
Since 1979, we’ve published 6,094 identified portraits (visit militaryimagesmagazine.com/archives to view our spreadsheet). Top 20 states: SPREAD THE WORD: We encourage you to share this story on social media and elsewhere
The Largest Prison Breakout in U.S. History
One of the best-known prison escapes of the Civil War involved 109 Union officers that tunneled out of Richmond’s Libby Prison on a cold winter’s night in 1864. About half
Case Study: Backdrop Explorer
By Kurt Luther When photo sleuths hit a brick wall trying to identify the subject of a Civil War portrait, they often turn from the foreground to the background, using
A Mexican War Volunteer
The cross-belts and bayonet scabbard worn by this volunteer are consistent with equipment used during the Mexican War. His tailcoat with tapered sleeves and buttons (known as “coin buttons” for
The Young Patriot
One day in early 1864 at Chattanooga, Rev. Calvin Holman of the U.S. Christian Commission busied himself about camp when the army’s commander, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, arrived on
“Boys, I Fear You Will Never See Shaler Again”
Marye’s Heights proved one of the hardest fought patches of ground in the Civil War’s Eastern Theater. The first attempt by Union forces to take it, during the December 1862
A Well-Traveled Image
Apencil inscription on the back of this carte de visite tells the tale of a journey that crisscrossed the country. The individual who made the notation, identified only by the
Semmes: An iconography of Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes, C.S. Navy
By Cliff Krainik In the early 1980s, my wife Michele and I owned and operated a gallery of vintage photographs in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. We specialized in 19th century photographs