Comments on: Images of the American Civil War

Images of the American Civil War

matteo — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:23:54 -0800

By: saladin

saladin — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:34:37 -0800

This is amazing, thank you.

By: peacay

peacay — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:35:57 -0800

Thank you matteo. There are some extraordinary pics in there. It's a little eerie actually, looking into the eyes of some of them, the quality is so good. It doesn't always look like it's 140 years away.

By: Cuke

Cuke — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:37:20 -0800

Incredible images, and perfect for a lecture I'm working on. Thank you.

By: matteo

matteo — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:41:01 -0800

among my favorites: Lincoln Assassination

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:43:35 -0800

Yeah, very nice, thanks. This one of Lincoln in particular is amazing, I know it's mostly an artifact of the photographic process, but he really looks like a statue, as well as being odd looking in general. The feller on his right looks looks like a positive bastard and nogoodnik, awesome.

By: pardonyou?

pardonyou? — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:49:36 -0800

Great post, thanks. Kind of like a Ken Burns documentary, without the sleep-inducing commentary. The feller on his right looks looks like a positive bastard and nogoodnik, awesome. Divine_Wino, there's a good reason why he looks that way. He's Allan Pinkerton (you've probably heard of Pinkerton Security) who foiled an assassination attempt on Lincoln in 1861, and who founded the first Secret Service.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Fri, 20 May 2005 07:59:46 -0800

I knew he was a bastard, fucking Pinkertons. I can always smell a union buster, even from more than 100 years away.

By: aacheson

aacheson — Fri, 20 May 2005 08:11:06 -0800

Wow. This is an amazing find! You know, Lincoln just doesn't look human. This is truly amazing stuff. You know, there is only one pictures of battlefield fighting that wasn't staged (because it took so long to take pictures. ) You all should read the book "Confederates in the Attic." Really good.

By: aacheson

aacheson — Fri, 20 May 2005 08:19:19 -0800

Check this out... look at the numbers that died of disease vs. war wounds. Amazing.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Fri, 20 May 2005 08:46:21 -0800

Wow, matteo, this is a great find! Thanks for sharing it.

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Fri, 20 May 2005 08:53:09 -0800

This is a great post. There's also a db of selected civil war photos at the Library of Congress. I'm not sure what the overlap is. Thanks.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 20 May 2005 09:08:49 -0800

Very interesting.

By: TimothyMason

TimothyMason — Fri, 20 May 2005 09:20:27 -0800

Excellent. But it's a pity there isn't any background. For example, what is this about? Why are they collecting the bones of the dead? What are they going to do with them?

By: DakotaPaul

DakotaPaul — Fri, 20 May 2005 09:25:30 -0800

Geez, I could look at these all day. Thanks, matteo!

By: damnthesehumanhands

damnthesehumanhands — Fri, 20 May 2005 09:33:58 -0800

Am I the only one who's getting 404's with this link?

By: naomi

naomi — Fri, 20 May 2005 09:53:58 -0800

Why are they collecting the bones of the dead? What are they going to do with them? Bury them, would be my guess. Amazing photos. I strongly second the "Confederates in the Attic" recommendation. It's fascinating and poignant and hilarious. Yes, all at the same time!

By: breath

breath — Fri, 20 May 2005 11:32:51 -0800

Lincoln seems to be moving slightly in each of the photos with Pinkerton, causing a slight smearing which explains why he looks so weird.

By: bjork24

bjork24 — Fri, 20 May 2005 11:35:43 -0800

Civil War tomfoolery? The solider on the roof looks like he's ready to drop something on the head of one of the people below.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 20 May 2005 11:58:39 -0800

I think your right. It looks like he is about to drop a wood chip on the guys below.

By: delfuego

delfuego — Fri, 20 May 2005 12:09:48 -0800

Awesome link; I could spend hours looking at these. I have to say that it's a little weird to me that the only known picture of Lincoln at the dedication of the Civil War cemetery at Gettysburg isn't included in the Library of Congress collection linked by OmieWise... it's an image that's in the Library of Congress, after all, and is a neat story that you'd think they'd want to highlight!

By: nola

nola — Fri, 20 May 2005 14:30:01 -0800

very fine post , thx much.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Fri, 20 May 2005 15:25:59 -0800

Why are they collecting the bones of the dead? What are they going to do with them? Yeah, it was to bury them. There is a new book out about the massive federal effort to identify and bury the Union war dead, and the South's reaction to it. It's called Honoring the Civil War Dead, by John Neff. Nice post, thanks.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 20 May 2005 17:41:09 -0800

Fantastic. I spent an unconscionable time staring into the determined gaze of John Brown, trying for the millionth time to figure out how I feel about him. Thanks, matteo.