A new frame for conflict
Gardner captioned this photograph only as “A Lone
Grave, on Battle-field of Antietam” but fortunately the
original negative of this photograph has survived and
is today in remarkably good state of preservation –
good enough to decipher , under magnification, the
name on the headboard. It reads “John Marshall” and
further markings leads researchers to believe this is
the grave of John Marshall, Company L, 28th
Pennsylvania.
Grave, on Battle-field of Antietam” but fortunately the
original negative of this photograph has survived and
is today in remarkably good state of preservation –
good enough to decipher , under magnification, the
name on the headboard. It reads “John Marshall” and
further markings leads researchers to believe this is
the grave of John Marshall, Company L, 28th
Pennsylvania.
How the seeds of American photojournalism were sown in the Civil War
While photographs of earlier conflicts do exist, the American Civil War is considered the first major conflict to be extensively photographed. Not only did intrepid photographers venture onto the fields of battle, but those very images were then widely displayed and sold in ever larger quantities nationwide.
Photographers such as Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and Timothy O'Sullivan found enthusiastic audiences for their images as America's interests were piqued by the shockingly realistic medium. For the first time in history, citizens on the home front could view the actual carnage of far away battlefields. Civil War photographs stripped away much of the Victorian-era romance around warfare.
During the Civil War, it was difficult for photographers to take photographs. Two men were needed to take one photograph. The photographer and his assistant would arrive at a location in a mobile darkroom.
The assistant would mix toxic photographic chemicals and pour them on a clean glass plate. After the chemicals were given time to evaporate, the glass plate would be sensitized by being immersed – in darkness – in a bath solution. Finally, once placed in the camera, which had already been focused and positioned by the photographer, the photographer would quickly “expose” the plate towards the subject that he is photographing and then quickly rush to the darkroom wagon for developing. Each fragile glass plate had to be treated with great care after development – a difficult task on a highly mobile and often primitive battlefield many miles away from the closest photography studio.
While photography of the 1860's would seem primitive by the technological standards of today, many of the famous Civil War photographers of the day were producing sophisticated three-dimensional images or "stereo views" These stereo view images proved to be extremely popular among Americans and a highly effective medium for displaying life-like images.
To create a stereo view image a twin-lens camera was used to capture the same image from two separate lenses, in much the same way that two human eyes capture the same image from slightly different angles on the head. The images were developed using the same wet-plate process, but stereoscopic photography produced two of the same image on one plate glass.
Example of a stereoscopic image
Antietam
In September, 1862, Mathew Brady sent two of his photographers--Alexander Gardner and James Gibson--to the battlefield at Antietam where the Army of the Potomac had blunted Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North and forced his army back across the Potomac into Virginia. The battle had exacted a horrible toll. September 17, 1862, remains the bloodiest single day in the nation's history. Total casualties for some 12 hours of fighting reached 23,000, including approximately 4,000 dead.
Gardner and Gibson reached Antietam within 2 days of the end of the battle as work crews were only beginning the grim job of clearing the ground of thousands of bodies, both human and animal.
Within a few days, working with the awkward photographic technology of the time, they had produced some of the most riveting images in the history of photography, becoming the first to photograph the dead on an American battlefield and the first to bring images of a historical event to the American public.
A notice of a gallery show by Mathew Brady appeared in the New York Times on October 6, less than 3 weeks after the battle itself. With a simple sign hanging in the window of Brady’s New York City gallery titled “The Dead of Antietam,” Gardner’s and Gibson’s work was put on display for all to see.
Crowds of people responded and made their way to the second-floor gallery to get a glimpse of the images. A reporter described "crowds of people constantly going up the stairs" of Brady's studio at Broadway and Tenth where "hushed, reverend groups standing around these weird copies of carnage, bending down to look in the pale faces of the dead, chained by the strange spell that dwells in dead men's eyes."
Although no record exists for what photos were actually on display, or how many, this wall represents what images the Brady gallery may have shown. However, the images were most likely carte de visites or small, cardboard mounted images no bigger than 5” to 7” big. Thanks to modern-day printing techniques, we were able to reproduce these images to more than %500 their original size.
"Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and along streets, he has done something very like it."
An excerpt about the exhibit published in the New York Times on October 20, 1862, speaks to the sober mood of the onlookers:
These poor subjects could not give the sun sittings, and they are taken as they fell, their poor hands clutching the grass of around them in spasms of Pain, or reaching out for a help which none gave. Union, soldier and Confederate, side by side, here they lie, the red light of battle faded from their eyes but their lips set as when they met in the last fierce change which located their souls and sent them grappling with each other and battling to the very grass of Heaven. The ground whereon they lie is torn by shot and shell, the grass is trampled down by the tread of hot, hurrying feet, and little rivulets that and scarcely be of water trickling along the earth like tears over a mother’s face. It is a bleak, barren plain and alone it bends an ashen sullen sky; there is no friendly shade or shelter from the noonday sun or the midnight dews; coldly and unpityingly the stars will look down on them and darkness will come with night to shut them in. But there is a poetry in the scene that no green fields or smiling landscapes can possess. Here lie men who have not hesitated to seal and lamp their convictions with their blood, -- men who have flung themselves into the great gulf of the unknown to teach the world that there are truths dearer than life, wrongs and shames more to be dreaded than death. And if there be on earth one spot where the grass will grow greener than on another when the next Summer comes, where the leaves of Autumn will drop more lightly when they fall like a benediction upon a work completed and a promise fulfilled, it is these soldiers' graves.
Confederate dead near the Burnside Bridge. This
photograph suggests that these two bodies – both
on their backs and the pockets of one turned out –
had been searched before Gardner and Gibson
arrived on the scene.
photograph suggests that these two bodies – both
on their backs and the pockets of one turned out –
had been searched before Gardner and Gibson
arrived on the scene.
Mathew Brady “The father of photojournlaism”
Mathew Brady is often referred to as the father of photojournalism and is most well known for his documentation of the Civil War. His photographs, and those he commissioned, had a tremendous impact on society at the time of the war, and continue to do so today. He and his employees photographed thousands of images including battlefields, camp life, and portraits of some of the most famous citizens of his time including Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee.
Brady was born in Warren County, New York in the early 1820’s to Irish immigrants, Andrew and Julia Brady. Little is known about his early life, but historians believe that during a trip to the Albany area, in search of a cure for an eye inflammation, he met portrait painter William Page. It is also believed that through William Page, Brady met Samuel F.B. Morse. Morse, a professor of art, painting, and design at New York University and the inventor of the telegraph likely tutored Brady in the newly developed technology of daguerreotype, the process of creating a mirror image on a silver-surfaced copper plate.
After moving to New York City, Brady began manufacturing cases for daguerreotypes, jewelry, and painted miniature portraits. He worked to build his skill and his reputation, opening, "The Daguerrean Miniature Gallery" on Broadway in 1844. Well known and accomplished in his profession, Brady won the highest award at the American Institute’s annual fair in 1844, 1845, 1846, 1849, and 1857, during which time he also began photographing well known Americans such as Edgar Allan Poe and James Fennimore Cooper.
Brady opened a studio in Washington DC and began making daguerreotypes of prominent politicians such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Zachary Taylor, and Millard Fillmore. In 1850 he published "The Gallery of Illustrious Americans," which sold for $15, equivalent to about $400 today. In 1851 Brady won medals at the Fair of All Nations in London and at New York’s Industrial Exhibition at Crystal Palace for his daguerreotypes.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Brady sought to create a comprehensive photo-documentation of the war. At his own expense, he organized a group of photographers and staff to follow the troops as the first field-photographers. Brady supervised the activities of the photographers, including Timothy H. Sullivan, Alexander Gardner, and James F. Gibson, preserved plate-glass negatives, and bought from private photographers in order to make the collection as complete as possible. Brady and his staff photographed many images of the Civil War including the Fist Battle of Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg.
In 1862 Brady shocked the nation when he displayed the first photographs of the carnage of the war in his New York Studio in an exhibit entitled "The Dead of Antietam." These images, photographed by Alexander Gardner and James F. Gibson, were the first to picture a battlefield before the dead had been removed and the first to be distributed to a mass public. These images received more media attention at the time of the war than any other series of images during the rest of the war A New York Times article in October, 1862, illustrates the impression these images left upon American culture stating, "Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and along the streets, he has done something very like it…"
By the end of the war Brady had accumulated serious debt in hopes of selling his collection to the New York Historical Society; however, the deal fell through. Fortunately for the American public Brady sold his collection to the United States government in 1875 for $25,000, just enough to pay off the debt he had accrued.
Following the war Brady continued to work in Washington DC with his nephew Levin Handy, who was also a photographer. In 1895 Brady suffered two broken legs as a result of a traffic accident. Having never fully recovered, Brady died on January 16, 1896 in New York. His funeral was financed by the New York 7thRegiment Veteran’s Association. Brady is buried beside his wife in Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC.
Matthew Brady’s pictures
Federal troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside fought a bitter three-hour battle to cross mBurnside Bridge over Antietam Creek. They finally captured it at 1:00 p.m., September 17, 1862 but the fierce Confederate resistance gave General Robert E. Lee time to reinforce his battle lines.
Allan Pinkerton (seated to the right) and his associates
(from the left) George H. Bangs, R. William Moore,
John C. Babcock and Augustus K. Littlefield in front of
a tent in Antietam. Pinkerton, best known for his
Pinkerton National Detective Agency that prospered
after the war, also gained praise for foiling an
assassination attempt on President Lincoln in 1861.
(from the left) George H. Bangs, R. William Moore,
John C. Babcock and Augustus K. Littlefield in front of
a tent in Antietam. Pinkerton, best known for his
Pinkerton National Detective Agency that prospered
after the war, also gained praise for foiling an
assassination attempt on President Lincoln in 1861.
Just prior to President Lincoln’s departure for
Washington, D.C. via Frederick on the morning of
October 4, 1862, an exposure was made showing
Lincoln in between Allan Pinkerton (left) and Major
General John McClernand. Pinkerton, head and
founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency,
was photographed several times by Gardner during
the first week in October, 1862. At the breakout of
hostilities in 1861 Pinkerton volunteered his services
to the Federal Government and by 1862 he was a
prime source of enemy intelligence.
Washington, D.C. via Frederick on the morning of
October 4, 1862, an exposure was made showing
Lincoln in between Allan Pinkerton (left) and Major
General John McClernand. Pinkerton, head and
founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency,
was photographed several times by Gardner during
the first week in October, 1862. At the breakout of
hostilities in 1861 Pinkerton volunteered his services
to the Federal Government and by 1862 he was a
prime source of enemy intelligence.
Col. Turner Morehead, a volunteer infantry for the
106th Pennsylvania Volunteers can be seen on the
Antietam battlefield. Intrigued by the unusual rock
formation in this photograph, modern scholars have
unsuccessfully tried to locate it. Most likely modern
development around the battlefield has obliterated it.
106th Pennsylvania Volunteers can be seen on the
Antietam battlefield. Intrigued by the unusual rock
formation in this photograph, modern scholars have
unsuccessfully tried to locate it. Most likely modern
development around the battlefield has obliterated it.
Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner’s work as a Civil War photographer has often been attributed to his better known contemporary, Mathew Brady. It is only in recent years that the true extent of Gardner’s work has been recognized, and he has been given the credit he deserves.
Gardner was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1821, later moving with his family to Glasgow. In 1850, he and his brother James travelled to the United States to establish a cooperative community in Iowa. Returning to Scotland to raise more money, Gardner purchased the Glasgow Sentinel, quickly turning it into the second largest newspaper in the city.
On his return to the United States in 1851, Gardner paid a visit to the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, New York, where he saw the photographs of Mathew Brady for the first time. Shortly afterward, Gardner began reviewing exhibitions of photographs in the Glasgow Sentinel, as well as experimenting with photography on his own.
In 1856, Gardner decided to immigrate to America, eventually settling in New York. He soon found employment with Mathew Brady as a photographer. At first, Gardner specialized in making large photographic prints, called Imperial photographs, but as Brady’s eyesight began to fail, Gardner took on more and more responsibilities. In 1858, Brady put him in charge of the entire gallery.
With the start of the Civil War in 1861, the demand for portrait photography increased, as soldiers on their way to the front posed for images to leave behind for their loved ones. Gardner became one of the top photographers in this field.
After witnessing the battle at Manassas, Virginia, Brady decided that he wanted to make a record of the war using photographs. Brady dispatched over 20 photographers, including Gardner, throughout the country to record the images of the conflict. Each man was equipped with his own travelling darkroom so that he could process the photographs on site.
In November of 1861, Gardner was granted the rank of honorary Captain on the staff of General George McClellan. This put him in an excellent position to photograph the aftermath of America’s bloodiest day, the Battle of Antietam. On September 19, 1862, two days after the battle, Gardner became the first of Brady’s photographers to take images of the dead on the field. Over 70 of his photographs were put on display at Brady’s New York gallery. In reviewing the exhibit, the New York Times stated that Brady was able to “bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and along streets, he has done something very like it…” Unfortunately, Gardner’s name was not mentioned in the review.
Gardner went on to cover more of the war’s terrible battles, including Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and the siege of Petersburg. He also took what is considered to be the last photograph of President Abraham Lincoln, just 5 days before his assassination. Gardner would go on to photograph the conspirators who were convicted of killing Lincoln, as well as their execution.
After the war, Brady established a gallery for Gardner in Washington, DC. In 1867, Gardner was appointed the official photographer of the Union Pacific Railroad, documenting the building of the railroad in Kansas as well as numerous Native American tribes that he encountered.
In 1871, Gardner gave up photography to start an insurance company. He lived in Washington until his death in 1882. Regarding his work he said, “It is designed to speak for itself. As mementos of the fearful struggle through which the country has just passed, it is confidently hoped that it will possess an enduring interest.”
Alexander Gardner
(1840-1867)
A close friend of Booth, O’Laughlen was active in an earlier, failed plot to kidnap Lincoln. In his trial, the government charged him with having
planned to kill Ulysses S. Grant. Convicted and given a life sentence, O’Laughlen died in prison of yellow fever on September 23, 1867.
(1842-1865)
Hall accompanied Lewis Powell to the home of William Seward. He later fled to Maryland where he helped the injured John Wilkes Booth hide from authorities. Executed on July 5, 1865.
(1835-1865)
Although he failed to carry out his assignment to kill Vice-President Andrew Johnson, Atzerodt was condemned to death for his involvement in the assassination plot. Executed on July 5, 1865.
Union soldiers look out over a Union encampment at Cumberland Landing, Virginia in May of 1862.
(LOC James Gibson)
(LOC James Gibson)