Civil War VISUAL Primary Sources 👁📖

Here are a few favorite visual primary sources from the Civil War period, drawn from my work on the Freeman Colby Series…

Harper’s Weekly VOL. 5 (1861)

• 26 Oct. 1861: Spooooky Jeff Davis!

Harper’s Weekly VOL. 6 (1862)

• 12 July 1862: “Bayonet Charge” (Homer)
• 27 Dec. 1862: “A Battle as Seen by the Reserves” (Nast)

Harper’s Weekly VOL. 7 (1863)

Harper’s Weekly VOL. 8 (1864)

“1864 in the News”:

• 20 Feb. 1864: St. Valentine’s Day
• 1 April 1864: April Fool’s Day
• 2 April 1864: “Ghosts on the Stage”
• 28 May 1864: “Sleeping on their arms” (Homer)
• …
• 4 June 1864: Wilderness Wildfires (Waud)
• 18 June 1864: “The Campaign in Virginia” (Nast)
• 24 Sept. 1864
• 1 Oct. 1864: Election News &c. (+ Mexican border shenanigans)
• 8 Oct. 1864: Campaign Pictures
• 15 Oct. 1864: Entrenching
• 22 Oct. 1864: Politics Galore!
• 29 Oct. 1864: Voters & Prisoners
• 5 Nov. 1864: Sheridan (& Bunnies)!
• 12 Nov. 1864: “The most important question in history”
• …
• 10 Dec. 1864: Clickbait: “How to Do It.”
• 17 Dec. 1864: Post-Election Insurrection
• 24 Dec. 1864: Christmas Eve + Ads + More Ads
• 24 Dec. 1864: “The Effect of the Rebellion”
• 31 Dec. 1864: “How to Destroy a Railroad Line”
• 31 Dec. 1864: “The Union Christmas Dinner” (Nast)

Harper’s Weekly VOL. 9 (1865)

• 5 Aug. 1865: Voting Rights (Nast)

Source of social, clothing, domestic, & other cultural reference…

WIKIPEDIA: Godey’s Lady’s Book >>

In reporting Civil War events & politics, Frank Leslie’s took a more “neutral” approach than Harper’s…

WIKIPEDIA: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper >>

SPECIFIC ISSUES:

• 27 SEPT. 1862 — 19 SEPT. 1863
• 2 JAN 1864 — 17 SEPT. 1864
  • 4 June 1864 = Wilderness &c.
  • 22 October 1864 = Weldon RR, Poplar Springs, &c.
• …

Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront (Katz & Virga)

This beautiful collection reprints many sketches & prints from each year of the war — Including many important details & perspectives not found in the written accounts of the time!

Alfred Waud: Drawings

As a special artist for Harper’s Weekly, Alfred Waud was in the thick of the action for much of 1864… I’ve used his sketchbooks extensively in Vol. 3 & Vol. 4!

SEE: “Alfred Waud” @ LOC.gov >>

The Civil War and American Art (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

…examines how America’s artists represented the impact of the Civil War and its aftermath. 

I’ve returned to this collection again & again for context & analysis of Civil War paintings & other images — Including the wartime careers of Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, & other narrative painters.