The Civil War was the most widely covered conflict of the 19th century. While sketch artists followed the armies and captured, as best they could, scenes of camp and battle, photographers were the ones most often tasked with making images of the conflict’s many participants—both in studios (with or without the aid of props) and in the field. The vast majority of these soldier images are straightforward shots of men in uniform, their poses stiff and their expressions serious. At times, however, the photographer captured an unconventional subject, scene, or pose, either on purpose or accidentally. Below are examples of some of these strange and unusual photos. (Unless otherwise noted, all images are courtesy of the Library of Congress.)
This May 1862 photo of a group of Union officers’ servants by James Gibson contains a few oddities: one man drinks from a bottle, another appears to be reading a small book, while a third, for some reason, clutches the handle of a kettle. And then there’s the man in the background, who decided that it was a good idea to pose for Gibson’s camera on the branch of a tree.
The following month, Gibson made a photo of Camp Lincoln in Richmond. This section of the larger image reveals the casual pose of two seeming soldier-friends; the one on the right appears to be smiling.
While many Civil War photographers made images of Union and Confederate soldiers killed on the field of battle, this image captures a scene that often followed the collection of the dead: Dr. Richard Burr, an embalming surgeon in the Army of the James, demonstrating the procedure on a dead soldier.
Look closely at this image of a 15-inch Rodman smoothbore gun at Battery Rodgers, near Alexandria. Not only is there a large bird (an eagle?) sitting atop it, but inside is a Union soldier who decided to demonstrate the weapon’s size by climbing inside it.
This Union soldier opted not to pose with his weapons—as so many of his comrades did—but with a shawl, perhaps a prized possession from home.
This 1861 image of men from Company D, 1st Rhode Island Infantry—who would fight at the Battle of Bull Run weeks later—reveals a number of oddities: a stray wooden mallet sits at the feet of the men at far right; a soldier seated at center holds a hatchet, and a young volunteer at far left strikes a strange pose, grasping a rifle of a comrade in one hand while pointing at another with the other.
This otherwise serene shot of tents and staff of the general hospital at City Point, Virginia, in October 1864 shows, at far left, two soldiers who decided to assume fighting stances for the camera.
This carefully posed studio image shows a man dressed as a Confederate soldier (note the “CSA” on his equipment) striking a pose of someone fleeing, presumably from battle. (Image courtesy of the National Museum of American History.)
In this unconventional image, a Union soldier shows a bugle—its significance unknown—to Civil War nurse Eleanor C. Ransom. Known as “Mother” to the men she cared for, Ransom served in a Union hospital in Tennessee and aboard the transport ship North America.
Two Union soldiers decided to take the (faux) fight into the photographer’s studio. The man at left points his bayonetted rifle toward the man on the right, who holds a sword and a cocked pistol.
Unlike the soldiers in the previous photo, this young volunteer strikes a relaxed pose—lying comfortably on the ground with a photographer’s painted backdrop behind him.
Children gather round a Civil War veteran riding in a cart pulled by two dogs in front of C.F. Cook’s photography studio in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
