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Photographic History of the Civil War #8
Soldier Life/Secret Service
These volumes contain an American epic told in photographs and present the American Civil War from an entirely original viewpoint. The ten volumes contain thousands of scenes photographed between 1861-65 by Matthew B. Brady and many others. Each volume is divided into sections or chapters with articles written by many special authorities on the Civil War. However, the photographs themselves tell the real story of the tragedy of war. Each photograph is accompanied by additional text that identifies people, places or situations. These volumes provide a unique opportunity to "see" the realities of war not just read about the battles and the soldiers and their experiences or the statistics of troops, ammunition, victories and defeats. See the Civil War unfold before your eyes. All ten volumes share a subject, place and surname index. You can purchase each one separately or as a set. No Civil War buff should be without this! (1911-12) 2003, CD, Graphic Images, Adobe Acrobat, v5, PC and MAC, 419 pp.
419 pages, CD-ROM
First published March 11, 2010
9 people want to read
About the author
Francis Trevelyan Miller
347 books1 followerFrancis Trevelyan Miller (1877–1959) was an American writer and film-maker. He is known for his books about exploration, travel and photography. Notable works from him including several books about the American Civil War, such as The Photographic History of the Civil War, in Ten Volumes (New York: The Review of Reviews Co., 1912). Another of his significant works is "History of WWII: Armed Services Memorial Edition." He has also made several feature films and wrote the screenplay for the 1919 film Deliverance about Helen Keller. In 1955 his photograph of children at a Chicago funfair was selected by Edward Steichen for MoMA's world-touring The Family of Man exhibition.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 23, 2019
** How the Secret Service gave rise to the compete photographic record of “Soldier Life” **
One might not be surprised to find this introductory sentence in a contemporary book, however it is the welcome to this tale published in 1911, and about the US Civil War. I guess some things never change? !
At first photography was considered a useless hobby, so a reliable employee of the Union secret service was allowed to photograph the everyday life of soldiers, their training, encampments, along with headquarters buildings, about anything he liked. The result is thousands of pictures showing the day-to-day activities of the Soldier Life.
Photographs of the confederate soldiers are relatively rare, however this volume 8 contains the most of any of the editions.
There are chapters on the Secret Service of both sides, the Union got a slow start, whereas the Confederacy having to rely on it much more used it with efficiency.
There are also fascinating chapters on areas not usually covered in stories of Civil War battles - Telegraphing, Ballooning and the Signal Service.
The telegraph system was a privately owned business, that is, the US military had no control over it, they could only buy the services. It is remarkable to find that the cypher codes for sending telegraphs were not given to the Union Army, that is General Grant was not privy to the code controlling the fate of the Union, as they were owned by The American Telegraph Company !
The new art of ballooning was a curious help to the Union, sending a brave soul aloft with a telegraph attached to his platform, to be shot at, with the Confederates developing the first anti-aircraft fire, several cannons pointed aloft, without much success. The rebels had only 1 balloon in their ‘Air Force’ and it did not last long.
It’s said war brings many advancement and the Signal service was an American invention used throughout the war. The South had the initial upper hand with the authorities on the subject joining the southern cause at the start of the war. It was hazardous duty as snipers on both sides looked for those using the semaphore flags, how hard would it to be to find someone waving a pair of flags? The attrition rate for signalers was much higher than a front line infantryman. In many place tall towers were built so the signal could carry across the battlefields and to draw fire !
Accompanying the hundreds of photographs are contributions of stories from officers who served in the Union and Confederate armies, published in 1911, these veterans were still alive.
The format of the publication is a delight in itself, the edges of the pages adorned with illustrations, the fonts of the titles and text, all a treasure in itself. There are newer reprints available, some in paperback, all would be good reads, but if you get a chance take a look at an original publication.
One might not be surprised to find this introductory sentence in a contemporary book, however it is the welcome to this tale published in 1911, and about the US Civil War. I guess some things never change? !
At first photography was considered a useless hobby, so a reliable employee of the Union secret service was allowed to photograph the everyday life of soldiers, their training, encampments, along with headquarters buildings, about anything he liked. The result is thousands of pictures showing the day-to-day activities of the Soldier Life.
Photographs of the confederate soldiers are relatively rare, however this volume 8 contains the most of any of the editions.
There are chapters on the Secret Service of both sides, the Union got a slow start, whereas the Confederacy having to rely on it much more used it with efficiency.
There are also fascinating chapters on areas not usually covered in stories of Civil War battles - Telegraphing, Ballooning and the Signal Service.
The telegraph system was a privately owned business, that is, the US military had no control over it, they could only buy the services. It is remarkable to find that the cypher codes for sending telegraphs were not given to the Union Army, that is General Grant was not privy to the code controlling the fate of the Union, as they were owned by The American Telegraph Company !
The new art of ballooning was a curious help to the Union, sending a brave soul aloft with a telegraph attached to his platform, to be shot at, with the Confederates developing the first anti-aircraft fire, several cannons pointed aloft, without much success. The rebels had only 1 balloon in their ‘Air Force’ and it did not last long.
It’s said war brings many advancement and the Signal service was an American invention used throughout the war. The South had the initial upper hand with the authorities on the subject joining the southern cause at the start of the war. It was hazardous duty as snipers on both sides looked for those using the semaphore flags, how hard would it to be to find someone waving a pair of flags? The attrition rate for signalers was much higher than a front line infantryman. In many place tall towers were built so the signal could carry across the battlefields and to draw fire !
Accompanying the hundreds of photographs are contributions of stories from officers who served in the Union and Confederate armies, published in 1911, these veterans were still alive.
The format of the publication is a delight in itself, the edges of the pages adorned with illustrations, the fonts of the titles and text, all a treasure in itself. There are newer reprints available, some in paperback, all would be good reads, but if you get a chance take a look at an original publication.
December 29, 2025
Most of this photographic history is okay. It is dry, which is inevitable. The formatting is a bit confusing and hard to read at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. Although many of the photos seem staged, they are quite interesting to see what Civil War life looked like. The first edition of this book is closer to the Civil War than the modern day, with many eyewitness accounts. Sometimes, that is a problem.
The third chapter or so was written by a Confederate veteran. It is riddled with Confederate apologia, Lost Cause BS, and illogical emotional appeals. It caused such disgust in me that it lowers my opinion of this entire book. If this book allows such Lost Cause BS, what other bias is in here? Thankfully, the chapter right after, written by another Confederate veteran, is more even-handed. But still.
The third chapter or so was written by a Confederate veteran. It is riddled with Confederate apologia, Lost Cause BS, and illogical emotional appeals. It caused such disgust in me that it lowers my opinion of this entire book. If this book allows such Lost Cause BS, what other bias is in here? Thankfully, the chapter right after, written by another Confederate veteran, is more even-handed. But still.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews