Hussar Influence
A mounted trooper wears an early French dragoon-style helmet with a brass visor and scale chinstrap distinguished by an 1820-style federal eagle on the crest. The uniform suggests a Hussar
Recent Stories
Calmness and Carbines
Observers of a Confederate charge against Union troops during the early morning of Oct. 7, 1864, were in for a surprise. The rebels had just driven them from a position
Identifying an Officer Pictured in a Library of Congress Negative
By Kurt Luther In my first “Photo Sleuth” column in 2015, I wrote about the power of combining perseverance and luck. After years of fruitless searching for photos of my
Guidebook to Our American Journey
I spend considerable time peering into the faces of a generation of Americans who lived and died long before I came into this world. Their likenesses, captured by photographic artists
The Art of Photo Sleuthing
By Kurt Luther Photography was the dominant form of professional portraiture during the Civil War. Its ubiquity owed in part to its high fidelity and low cost. However, other forms
Charley’s Album: A pocket-sized treasure recalls a Connecticut officer’s war experience
By Dione Longley and Buck Zaidel Civil War veterans acknowledged their military service as the most significant experience of their lives. They filled uncounted albums with photographs of their pards
Material Culture
By Ron Field During the decade before the Civil War, numerous volunteer militia companies drilled and paraded in uniforms based on those worn by the Continental Army, and patterned
Caught in the Crossfire: A surgeon in Sherman’s Army between quarreling generals
By Frank Jastrzembski One summer’s day in 1864, fear gripped the medical director of the 16th Corps when a feisty brigadier threatened to end his life. The general, Thomas W.
Agent of the Cotton War
By Ron Maness, with images and artifacts from the author’s collection The root causes of the Civil War have been a topic of debate since the conflict unfolded. Editorials, scholarly
Grant After Vicksburg: Solving the mystery of who took the general’s photograph
By James Bultema For collectors of images, playing detective by answering the “who, what, where, and when” in relation to one’s photograph, is very important in the process of assembling