Pictures From
the
Civil War

Until the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865, people of African descent were legally bought and sold as slaves. Due to the slave trade, families were torn apart; mother from child, brother from brother, husband from wife.



The "Ol' Auction Block" in Luray, Virginia, reportedly used
for auctioning slaves in the 19th Century.
When slaves were auctioned, they often walked a short wooden staircase to the top of a concrete block to be sold. Stories about the "Ol' Auction Block" have been passed down from generation to generation to the living descendents of those very slaves. These stories form what historians call an Oral History.


freedmen
Freedmen, The Freed Slaves of the Civil War

Freedmen was the term given to those slaves who became free men after the U.S. Congress passed the Confiscation Act of 1862. Under this act, Confederates who did not surrender within 60 days of the act's passage were to be punished by having their slaves freed. It also dealt with a problem that had plagued field commanders occupying Southern territory. As troops advanced, slaves sought refuge in Union camps, and Federal commanders were confused over their obligations to the refugees. Some freed the slaves, other sent them back to their master for lack of means to care for them. The Confiscation Act declared all slaves taking refuge behind Union lines captives of war who were to be set free. The Act essentially paved the way for the Emancipation Proclamation and solved the immediate dilemma facing the army concerning the status of slaves within its jurisdiction.



The tents that the soldiers called home during the Civil War




Chattanooga, Tenn., vicinity. Federal camp by the Tennessee River. (ca. 1864) Library of Congress




City Point, Va. African American army cook at work. (ca. 1860-1865). Photo from the siege of Petersburg, Va. June 1684-April 1865. Library of Congress No. 0367





Petersburg, Va. Captured Confederate encampment. Photographer: Timothy H. O'Sullivan (June 1864) Library of Congress No. LC-B8171-0782




Antietam, Md. Confederate dead in a ditch on the right wing used as a rifle pit. Photographer: Alexander Gardner (Sept. 1862) Library of Congress No. 0133





Group photo of Pvts. Solomon M. Russell, William A. Burnett, and Edmund O. Cleveland, (in order)Co. A, 12th Regt. This photo was taken in the spring of 1863. Private Solomon M. Russell was killed at Vickburg in June of 1863. Written on the back of this photograph, "Eating our dinner at a picket post near Memphis", was taken at a near by studio.




Read More About the Civil War
 Just click on the title to read more.

Civil War Gallery

The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman

Prison Camps of the Civil War

United States Colored Troops in the Civil War

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