[Unidentified soldier in Union private's uniform displaying his leg wound]

The single best source for Civil War photographs is the U.S. Library of Congress, which holds the core collections of original Civil War documentary ... The majority of the ambrotypes and tintypes are portraits by unidentified photographers of Civil War soldiers, primarily Union soldiers.

Clara Barton, (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912), founder the American Red Cross, declared that the war put the American woman “at least fifty years in advance of the normal position which continued peace would have assigned her.” Clara Barton was born in North Oxford. When Clara was 10, she assigned herself the task of nursing her brother David back to health after he fell from the roof of a barn. Clara learned how to distribute the prescribed medication to her brother, as well as how to place leeches on his body to bleed him (a standard treatment at this time). She continued to care for David long after doctors had given until he made a full recovery. She was a teacher for 12 years at schools in Canada, West Georgia and at open a free school in Bordentown, NJ which was the first ever free school in New Jersey. She was also a patent clerk in Washington D.C., in the US Patent Office. She was the first woman in government office who had received a salary equal to a man's salary. She became a hospital nurse during the American Civil War. Nursing education was not formalized at that time and Clara did not attend nursing school and provided self-taught nursing care. On April 19, 1861, the Baltimore Riot resulted in the first bloodshed of the American Civil War. Victims were transported to Washington D.C. where she lived at the time. Barton went to the railroad station when the victims arrived and nursed 40 men providing crucial assistance to wounded.

More than 2,500 special portrait photographs, called ambrotypes and tintypes, and small card photos called cartes de visite represent both Union and Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Tom Liljenquist and his sons Jason, Brandon, and Christian built this collection in memory of President Abraham Lincoln and the estimated 620,000-850,000 Union and Confederate servicemen who died in the American Civil War. For many, these photographs are the last known record we have of who they were and what they looked like. See "From the Donor's Perspective--The Last Full Measure" for the full story. The Liljenquist Family began donating their collection to the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division in 2010, and continues to add to it. In addition to the ambrotypes and tintypes, the collection also includes several manuscripts, patriotic envelopes, photographs on paper, and artifacts related to the Civil War. The portraits often show weapons, hats, canteens, musical instruments, painted backdrops, and other details that enhance the research value of the collection. Other photo topics include flags, city views, veterans, and ships. Among the rarest images are sailors, African Americans in uniform, Lincoln campaign buttons, and portraits of soldiers with their families and friends. LOC Prints & Photographs Division holds thousands of images relating to the Civil War, found in many different collections.