From gilt-framed ambrotypes of glassy-eyed new recruits to grim and
grainy shots of the muddy dead, the American Civil War was the first
major conflict to leave behind an extensive photographic record. Apart
from the stylised scenes of battle that found their way on to painted
canvas, it is perhaps to these photographs that one might automatically
tend if asked to think of the visual record of the war. However, in both
the photographic record and the more official war art, as engaging as
they can be, there does seem to be something important missing: the
immediacy and intimacy of everyday life as a soldier.
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