150th Anniversary of the Civil War
Tuesday, April 12, 2011, will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. More than 600,000 soldiers and sailors died during the conflict. View a gallery of historical photos made available by the Library of Congress.
Section:Picture story
In this undated Civil War photograph, a former slave, center, serving as a soldier in uniform and receiving regular army pay, stands with other Federal soldiers at the Army of the Potomac winter headquarters near Fredericksburg, Va. The log hut serves as a mess house for the regiment.
Mathew B. Brady File, Associated Press
This Oct. 3, 1862 photo made available by the Library of Congress shows from left, Allan Pinkerton, President Abraham Lincoln and Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand in Antietam, Md. after the Battle of Antietam.
Alexander Gardner Library of Congress, Associated Press
This March 1862 photo made available by the Library of Congress shows Federal soldiers at Confederate fortifications in Manassas, Va.
George N. Barnard Library of Congress, Associated Press
In this 1864 picture, Gen. William T. Sherman inspects battlements in Atlanta prior to his “march to the sea” during the American Civil War. After his capture of Atlanta, Sherman went on to capture Savannah and divide the Confederate States of America.
Library of Congress, Associated Press
In this 1864 photo made available by the Library of Congress, Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union troops use a lever especially designed by his engineers to tear apart train rails as they march through Georgia during the American Civil War. The rails were half the weight of modern-day rails and were pried up easily. To make Confederate pursuit impossible, they were destroyed beyond repair using a technique called “Sherman’s neck ties.” A large shell hole is in the building at left.
Library of Congress, Associated Press
In this 1865 photograph made available by the Library of Congress, an African American soldier sits next to a stretcher holding the remains of his comrades who were killed in the battles of Gaines’ Mill and Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Va.
J. Reekie, A. Gardner Library of Congress, Associated Press
This April 1865 photo made available by the Library of Congress shows the McLean House in Appomattox Court House, Va., site of Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant. Over the next four years, Americans will mark the 150th anniversary of major events in the Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865.
Timothy H. O’Sullivan Library of Congress, Associated Press