Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War

An incredible history of the Civil War published within a generation of its conclusion.

Harper’s Weekly was one of the most widely disseminated periodicals across the Northern States during the American Civil War. The contemporary commentary, interesting editorials, and humorous political cartoons provide one of the most insightful overviews of the conflict from the perspective of those who lived through it. The editors, Alfred Guernsey and Henry Alden, describe this publication’s purpose in the preface;

“We have undertaken to write the History of the Great Conspiracy which finally culminated in the Great Rebellion of the United States. Our task was commenced during the agony of the great struggle, when no man could foretell its issue. We purposed at the outset to narrate events just as they occurred; to speak of living men as impartially as though they were dead; to praise no man unduly because he strove for the right, to malign no man because he strove for the wrong; to anticipate, as far as we might, the sure verdict of after ages upon events.”

Their efforts can only be called a success, as the nearly 850 pages provide one of the most interesting (if one-sided) historical accounts of the war. Over 1,000 different maps, portraits, plans, views, and illustrations are included with the two volumes.

Originally published in New York by Harper’s in 1866, this is a later issue of the two-volume set. It was published in Chicago by the Star Publishing Company in 1898.