March 3, 1860 | Illustration
This image from the March 3, 1860 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts soldiers from the New York state militia on their way to Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration of a statue of George Washingon.
July 6, 1861 | Illustration
This image from the July 6, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts Harper's Ferry after its evacuation by Confederate troops.
1862 | Illustration
The U.S. Military Railroads rebuilt the South?s railroads in the closing months of the war. African American railroad workers cut timber, broke rock, and hauled gravel for the grading. Their experience on the railroads as trackmen and laborers, as well as firemen and brakemen, continued after the war. In 1880 over 50 percent of all railroad workers in Virginia were black; in Pennsylvania, by contrast, railroad workers were almost uniformly white.
1862 | Illustration
When guerrillas attacked Union forces, the northern public was outraged. Confederate guerrillas and partisan rangers attacked the railroad and telegraph systems, opening up the war to civilians and exposing the remorseless nature of the national conflict. Their activities played a central role in the war.
1862 | Illustration
Keywords appearing in all Union officers? correspondence in the 1862 Peninsular Campaign; the larger the word, the more often it appeared in their writings. Compiled from U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Gettysburg, Pa.: National Historical Society, c. 1971?1972), Vol. 11 (Part III), 1?384. (Voyeur Tools [copyright 2009] Steffan Sinclair and Geoffrey Rockwell, v. 1.0; graph by Trevor Munoz and the author [September 2009]. This image was generated using Wordle, under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.)
March 29, 1862 | Illustration
This image from the March 29, 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a scene of destruction at Manassas Junction in Virginia during the American Civil War.
June 21, 1862 | Illustration
Corinth was at the junction of two railroad lines, the Mobile & Ohio and the Memphis & Charleston, and so was strategically important to both sides. This image was published shortly after the Seige of Corinth, in which the city was taken by Union forces.
October 4, 1862 | Illustration
Harper's Ferry, an important railroad terminus at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, changed hands eight times during the Civil War. This image was published just weeks after the Battle of Harper's Ferry, during which Confederate troops were victorious.
October 8, 1862 | Illustration
This image from the October 8, 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts three men at Fair View, Maryland observing Confederate forces in the distance working to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
December 13, 1862 | Illustration
Harper's Weekly featured regular illustrations of southern towns and battlefields for Northern audiences following the war. This image of Fredericksburg echoes a photograph by Matthew Brady.
March 7, 1863 | Illustration
United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) recruiters in 1863 fanned out along the railroads, especially in Tennessee, stopping at depots along the route to sign up soldiers. Over 180,000 black men volunteered and enlisted for service in the U.S.C.T. Both white regiments and U.S.C.T. units found themselves guarding railroads and watching for guerrillas.
October 24, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the October 24, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War destroying a railroad line by burning the ties, then heating the rails and twisting them out of shape.
November 7, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the November 7, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the United States' Army of the Cumberland passing through a substantial cut in the mountains while traveling on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
November 7, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the November 7, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the burning of the Rappahannock Railway Bridge on October 13, 1863 during the American Civil War.
November 7, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the November 7, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts defensive works built near the Rappahannock Railway Bridge during the American Civil War.
December 5, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the December 5, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the Union steamer "Chattanooga," a steam ship built by Union Soldiers.
December 12, 1863 | Illustration
Northern audiences were hungry for information and images related to the war effort. Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia were focal points and thus often photographed and presented as illustrations.
December 12, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the December 12, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a Union railway supply depot for the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.
December 12, 1863 | Illustration
This image from the December 12, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts the condition of the railroad bridge over Bull Run during the American Civil War and features soldiers from the Union Army of the Potomac.
1864 | Illustration
The partisan war in Loudon County, Virginia, turned especially violent in the fall of 1864. Confederate forces under John S. Mosby captured and killed Union soldiers in retaliation for the burning of civilian homes, and Union general George A. Custer responded by hanging seven of Mosby?s men. Then, on November 6, 1864, Mosby executed several more Union soldiers in response. The fighting took place along the Manassas Gap Railroad line and its bridges.