NARA Collection lc — Collection lc

Original caption: This photograph was taken April 2, 1865, in the Rebel trenches at Petersburg just after their capture by the Union troops. The trenches all along the lines were found to contain many dead Confederates, and this view is but one of many that was made by the photographer showing the dead just as they fell. By looking at a number of these views you can get an idea of how a long stretch of the trenches looked that day. Of course the camera could not take but a small section within the scope of each view. You will notice that no two of the dead fell in the same position.

Original caption: (Nos. 6175, 6178, 6182, 6184, 6189 and 6190 are entirely different scenes.) This photograph was taken April 2, 1865, in the Rebel trenches at Petersburg just after their capture by the Union troops. The trenches all along the lines were found to contain many dead Confederates, and this view is but one of many that was made by the photographer showing the dead just as they fell. By looking at a number of these views you can get an idea of how a long stretch of the trenches looked that day. Of course the camera could not take but a small section within the scope of each view. You will notice that no two of the dead fell in the same position.

Original caption: Both armies had a reckless habit of leaving the roads and bridges in a condition which ought not to have been permitted by the selectmen of the towns through which the army passed. This railroad bridge is so badly used up that there is no reasonable expectation that the trains can make schedule time for some days.

Original caption: This old barn near Fredericksburg, Va., was used as an embalming building. Here the bodies of the dead soldiers that were to be sent North to their friends were embalmed. More than a hundred bodies were sometimes brought here in one day. During the first battle of Fredericksburg, in December, 1862, several hundred bodies were here at one time to be embalmed.

Original caption: The camps of the Army of the Potomac covered thousands and thousands of acres. This is a picturesque view of a camp at Cumberland Landing, on the Pamunky River, Va., in May, 1862.

Original caption: The camps of the Army of the Potomac covered thousands and thousands of acres. This is a picturesque view of a camp at Cumberland Landing, on the Pamunky River, Va., in May, 1862.

Original caption: When the celebrated Fort Fisher (which was situated at the mouth of Cape Fear River and was the cover to the vast amount of blockade running into Wilmington) was captured by General Terry and Admiral Porter, among many other evidences of the friendship of England for the Rebels, there was found one of the noted Armstrong guns, made only for the English Government, and bearing the imprint of the "broad arrow," or Government brand of England. This is a view of the Armstrong gun furnished by the English haters of the United States to our enemies to help destroy us. But "John Bull" was not a "bigger man than old Grant," and the "Government at Washington still lives."

Original caption: Here is where the battle raged hottest in June, 1862. In the rear of the battery of howitzers which is seen in the foreground, can be seen the left of Sickle's brigade in line of battle. Near the twin houses, seen still further in the rear, the bodies of over 400 Union soldiers were buried after the battle.

Original caption: This is a view taken at Johnsonville the day before its evacuation, in December, 1864. In the foreground is the depot platform and just back of that is the 1st Tennessee Colored Battery. In the background is the camp, the troops drawn up in line.

Original caption: It was often necessary to establish a telegraph service between different points in our lines very hurriedly. This view shows one of the characteristic field telegraph stations. An old piece of canvas stretched over some rails forms the telegrapher's office, and a "hard-tack" box is his telegraph table; but from such a rude station messages were often sent which involved the lives of hundreds and thousands of soldiers.

Original caption: Comrades all remember how eagerly they made a rush for "the old well," when on a long and dusty march they came to a plantation with its cool "spring house," or its deep dark well. This view shows the familiar scene of filling the canteens; the well has been covered with canvas and a guard placed over it to prevent any waste of water, for a well, however deep and capacious, soon becomes dry when the army commence to draw water.

Original caption: As soon as the Rebels were forced to evacuate Petersburg, April 2, 1865, our troops took possession; the inhabitants of the city were in a very destitute condition, almost starving in fact. The U.S. Government at once began issuing rations to these starving people, and great trains loaded with provisions soon rolled into the city. This is a view of the first wagon train that entered the city. The hated Yankees came to them with barrels of flour, pork, coffee, sugar, and other necessaries to relieve their suffering brought upon them by their friends (?) the Rebels.