When these photos were released in a special Civil War Faces collection by the Library of Congress, I was fascinated by the mostly unidentified photos of soldiers, women, children, and even a few horses snuck in a photo or two. The Civil War was never something I was enthusiastic about, I suppose because, living on the west coast, we were never educated about it extensively. This summer I'm doing a bit of traveling (more on that later), and hope to learn a bit more, and maybe see some Civil War related sights.
Here's just a few portraits that stood out to me, but I would recommend checking out the entire collection, it really is interesting to look at and wonder about the people long gone. There are your expected facial hair sporting men with guns and knives, but also boys clearly not old enough to enlist, african american soldiers, women in plaits and crinolines, sailors, and dare I say a few soldier portraits that look quite a bit female.
As for the first photo: What a heartbreaker!
..........Little girl holding a photo of her father..........
..........Silly boys..........
..........My first impression was "female" but I'll never know..........
..........The lighting in this is haunting..........
.........Notice how her shears are in a special loop on her skirt..........
..........Another handsome young man..........
