Soldiers' Photographs

Photography on a mass scale was relatively new when the Civil War started in 1864. Daguerreotypes were introduced in 1839, followed by the even more economical ambrotype in the early 1850s and, finally, in about 1860, carte de visite photographs printed on paper and mounted on cardboard stock so they could easily be carried.

Civil War soldiers made prolific use of these calling-card photographs, trading them with fellow soldiers and sending copies home to loved ones.

The following images are of soldiers from various regiments, some unidentified. Other images of soldiers appear with information about regiments.