1862 | Photograph
African American laborers, free and contraband, worked for the Union Army to build and repair rail lines across the South. Note the bent and broken rails scattered in the background, signs of earlier destruction.
1862 | Photograph
From the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans worked on the railroads, transferring their labor to the Union cause.
1862 | Photograph
Harper's Ferry, an important railroad terminus at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, changed hands eight times during the Civil War. In this photograph, the landscape and the significance of the river valleys are particularly obvious.
1862 | Photograph
1862 | Photograph
McClellan used the Richmond & York River Railroad to position his massive Army of the Potomac just a few miles from Richmond.
1862 | Photograph
In the Peninsular Campaign, Federal forces encountered thousands former slaves who sought freedom and work in the Union army camps. Even if slaves fled slavery, their status was unclear in the first year of the war. In July 1862 Congress declared such refugees from slavery ?forever and henceforth free.?
5, 1861 | Photograph
1861 | Photograph
Construction corps at work on the Aquia Creek and Fredericksburg Railroad.
1861 | Photograph
A trestle railroad bridge built by the United States Military Railroad Construction Corps.
1861 | Photograph
1861 | Photograph
A Matthew Brady image of the roundhouse at Alexandria, Virginia during the Civil War.
1861 | Photograph
1861 | Photograph
1861 | Photograph
A Matthew Brady image of the slave pen of Price, Birch & Co., Alexandria, Virginia.
1861 | Photograph
Columbiad guns of the Confederate water battery at Warrington, Fla., near Pensacola, February 1861. With the railroad to Pensacola under construction and finally completed in May, the Confederates could move large guns and troops more quickly to the coast.
August 31, 1865 | Payroll
This carpenter's payroll from August, 1865 lists the time—in days—that William Rice spent working at various "general" tasks and details the compensation he received at Knoxville, Tennessee.
August 31, 1865 | Payroll
This machinist's payroll from August, 1865 lists the time—in days—that S. H. Hall spent working on various engines and details the compensation he received.
August 31, 1865 | Payroll
This payroll from August, 1865 lists the time—in days—that James Darnell spent helping to repair rail cars and engines and details the compensation he received in Knoxville, Tennessee.
August 31, 1865 | Payroll
This machinist's payroll from August, 1865 lists the time—in days—that L. Maguire spent working on various engines and details the compensation he received.
August 31, 1865 | Payroll
This machinist's payroll from August, 1865 lists the time—in days—that R. Young spent working on various engines and details the compensation he received.