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:
Tag: civil war
On 40 Years
The founding of MI sits between two cultural phenomena spread across four decades. On one side lay the writings of Bruce Catton and the Civil War centennial; on the other,
Paper and Sword
The rolled paper on the tabletop and sword pictured here are at the heart of a theory about the sitter in this ambrotype. The robust pommel of his sword indicates
“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
What to Do When Gold Standards Go Wrong
By Kurt Luther In photo sleuthing, most of us strive to set a high bar for what constitutes sufficiently strong evidence to identify an unknown soldier portrait. The gold standard
A New Era in Photo Sleuthing Begins
By Kurt Luther On Aug. 1, 2018, we celebrated the public launch of Civil War Photo Sleuth, a free website that we hope will forever change the face of Civil
Introducing The Citizenry
Over the years, we’ve highlighted photographs of individuals from the Civil War period who did not formally serve in the military. They include servants to soldiers, women who supported the
“Pass Those Colors Over to Me”
There came a moment during the fight at Five Forks when federal Sgt. Robert Shipley ran across a rebel color bearer from the 9th Virginia Infantry. The Confederate, with banner
A Very Creditable Affair
Capt. Adam Kramer and his battalion of cavalrymen mounted up and raced through the North Carolina countryside on the evening of April 10, 1865. Their mission: cut off the retreat
The Rich History of a Fort in Soldier Portraits
The list of officers who passed through Michigan’s Fort Mackinac in antebellum times on their way to becoming Civil War generals might surprise you. On the Union side, Edwin Vose