Blood-Stained Scabbard
By Scott Valentine At the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Union brigade commanded by Col. John Alfred Koltes remained in reserve as the fighting unfolded. However, during the afternoon
Recent Stories
Captain of “The Arkansas Battery,” a Georgia Officer and His Servant, and More
In looking back at the life of William Pratt Parks, one constant emerges: he spent much of his life challenging what he viewed as entrenched power, in war and politics.
Forever Flying the Flag
By Robert May Behind this portrait of a citizen-soldier wearing his Medal of Honor and holding the tattered remnants of the Stars and Stripes—attached to a flagstaff with a makeshift
The Spring 2026 issue of Military Images Magazine
Indiana Faces of the Civil War dominate this issue. Its origins sprung from two sources. One is a desire to shine a spotlight on the Western Theater of the war
Generations of Caretakers
We’ve said goodbye to a number of pillars of the image collecting community over the years. In recent months, Rick Carlile and Perry Frohne have left us. Each, in his
Women Working in U.S. Army Hospitals During the Civil War
A register preserved in the National Archives lists the names of about 2,773 women who served as nurses, cooks, and laundresses in U.S. Army hospitals during the Civil War. The
Elmira Images as Primary Source Documents
Photographs of Civil War prisons are often treated as illustrations—accompaniments to statistics about overcrowding, disease, and death. This volume takes a different approach, using the surviving images of the Confederate
Legends and Lies in Female Soldier Portraits
By Kurt Luther Historians estimate that at least 400 women presented themselves as men and fought in the Civil War, on both sides of the conflict. Verified period portraits of
An Antebellum Militia Officer Daguerreotype
This officer holds a Model 1834 general officer’s sword, likely produced by the Ames Manufacturing Company, judging by its pommel and mounts. He wears narrow sleeves associated with Mexican War–era
Wounded at Gettysburg, Vilified for a Political Scandal
In every battle he fought, William Wade Dudley “distinguished himself as a good soldier, which is the highest possible recommendation that can be given any man,” according to an 1881