Civil War, U.S. - Unforgettable Sights

Story Summary

How oft have I thought of home.
That place that I formerly so little appreciated.

Thomas D. Newton
Confederate Soldier
May 28, 1862

Home. It was the place where Americans fought their deadliest war.

Mass slaughter ended the lives of 618,000 “Yanks” and “Rebs” who disagreed over issues like states’ rights and slavery. About 2% of the American population died. (That equates to roughly 5 million people today.)

Photographs at the U.S. National Archives and the Library of Congress depict the horror (like Gettysburg, famously memorialized by Abraham Lincon) of America’s tragic internal conflict. Thousands of extraordinary pictures have been digitized and are available for unrestricted use.

What does some of the best evidence, held by America’s Official Archives, reveal?

Author: Carole D. Bos, J.D.