Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories

"Before going off to fight in the Civil War, many soldiers - especially those on the Union side of the conflict - posed for a carte de visite, or visiting card, to give to their families, friends, or sweethearts. Invented in 1854 by a French photographer, the carte de visite was a small photographic print roughly the size of a modern trading card. The format arrived in America on the eve of the conflict, which fueled intense demand for the convenient and affordable keepsakes. Considerable numbers of these portrait cards of Civil War soldiers survive today, but the experiences - and often the names - of the individuals portrayed have typically been lost to time. A passionate collector of Civil War-era photography, Ronald S. Coddington became intrigued by the very anonymity of their faces. His efforts to identify these men led him to daunting research in military records, pension files, and other public and personal documents." In Faces of the Civil War, Coddington presents 77 cartes de visite of Union soldiers from his collection and tells the found stories of their lives during and after the war.