Photo of a Lost Battle of Lookout Mountain Painting by English Artist James Walker Featuring One of Mathew Brady's Photography Studio Skylights in the Background (1860's)

Photo of a Battle of Lookout Mountain painting by English artist James Walker, c. 1864-1880. The skylight of one of Mathew Brady's studio, probably the one in Washington, D.C., is visible in the background at right. Multiple versions of this painting, all possibly titled "The Battle Above the Clouds", were created by Walker and I am unable to find this particular version of the painting in any collection today. Union general Joseph Hooker is said to be riding the rearing white horse at center left. This flipped and inverted glass negative photo is attributed to Mathew Brady.

Source: National Archives and Records Administration.

More information at Shades of Gray and Blue.

Union Soldiers Posing on Sandbag Fortifications and With Parrott Rifles in Battery Stevens on Morris Island Near Charleston, South Carolina (1863)

Union soldiers posing on sandbag fortifications and with Parrott rifles in Battery Stevens on Morris Island, South Carolina, 1863. Battle smoke from nearby artillery fire is possibly visible in the background. By Haas and Peale.

Source: Library of Congress.

British Soldiers in and Around a Trench During the Battle of Arras in France (1917)

British soldiers in and around a trench during the Battle of Arras in France, 1917. Smoke from artillery shell explosions can be seen in the distance.

Source.

View of Smoke From Artillery Fire Coming From the Russian Redoubts of Mamelon and Malakoff During the Siege of Sevastopol Taken From Allied Lines (1855)

View of smoke from artillery fire coming from the Russian redoubts of Mamelon and Malakoff during the Siege of Sevastopol taken from Allied lines, 1855. Possibly the first combat photograph ever taken. By Roger Fenton.

Source.

Photograph Taken During the Second Battle of Fredericksburg Showing Battle Smoke Drifting Through Downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia (1863)

Photograph taken during the Second Battle of Fredericksburg showing battle smoke drifting through downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 3, 1863. A number of Union soldiers are standing/possibly moving on the pontoon bridge crossing the Rappahannock River in the middle ground. By Andrew J. Russell.

Source.

French Troops Waiting to Launch an Assault Near Soissons, France, During World War 1

French troops waiting to launch an assault near Soissons, France, during World War 1. The smoke from an artillery bombardment of Saint-Mard is visible in the far distance. Animated stereoview.

Source.

A Japanese Shell Exploding Next to a Russian Trench During the Siege of Port Arthur (1904)

View of a Japanese shell exploding next to a Russian trench taken from 200 feet away during the Siege of Port Arthur, 1904. Animated stereoview.

Source.

Alleged Photographs of German Skirmishers Advancing Towards a French Position at La Moncelle During the Battle of Sedan (1870)

There has been a lot of discussion of these photographs online about whether or not they are authentic combat photographs from the Franco-Prussian War. At the moment I think they are images from some sort of elaborate recreation that were made to sell postcards or else some other attempt to document the conflict by photographing a reenactment. If these photographs were real, the hardest thing to explain would be the position of the photographer as he would have been in an extremely exposed position. What I once thought were French soldiers in the second and third photographs in the foreground are actually clearly firing towards the photographer in sharper versions of the photographs I have found, which would mean that they are more German soldiers. There doesn't seem to be any blurring in the photographs caused by movement of the soldiers which was a common trait in photos of the era and could be a sign that the photographs are posed. Cameras with fast exposure times which would minimize any blurring existed at the time but their use was not very widespread.

The first photograph.

What I have deemed the first photograph is on a postcard that is said to show lines of German skirmishers advancing towards a French position at La Moncelle during the Battle of Sedan in 1870. A few fascinating details that are discernible in this photograph are the trail of what some think is blood flowing from a spot next to the doorway of the house in the foreground, the bullet holes visible in the same house, the columns of German soldiers marching down the road, and the large amount of smoke rising in the distance to the left. I have also assembled seven related photographs below, possibly for the first time online, that were taken at the same event:

Uncropped lower resolution version of the photograph from Getty. Source.

The second photograph. Source.

Second photograph taken from another angle at a noticeably different time. What look like German soldiers in the foreground who seem to be facing the camera and firing. They appear much closer than they were when some of them presumably were in their skirmish lines and columns in the first photograph. What appears to be additional columns of German infantry can be seen marching down the road in the left background. The puffs of smoke in the trees in the right background look much more prominent than they do in the first photograph.

Uncropped lower resolution version of the second photograph from Getty. Source.

The third photograph. Source.

A third photograph taken from what looks like the same position as the second image. The German soldiers in the foreground look like they are clearly aiming their rifles in the direction of the photographer. There seems to have been at least four other versions of postcards featuring this photograph I have collected below.

A second version that is sharper but cropped. Source: Ebay.

A third cropped version. Source.

A fourth uncropped version that has much less detail. Source:Ebay.

 

 

An albumen cabinet card version of the photo showing what it probably would have originally been published as. Sold on Ebay, image via Worthpoint.

What looks like the same house today in La Moncelle which is featured in all of the photographs. Source Google Street View.

Distant View of the USS New Ironsides Firing at Confederate-Held Fort Sumter or Fort Moultrie From Just Off Morris Island, South Carolina (1863)

The full photograph.

Close-up of the scene.

Close-up of spectators and the Union ironclads behind them.

Close-up of the USS New Ironsides firing.

Distant view of the USS New Ironsides (right) and other Union ironclads firing at Confederate-held Fort Sumter or Fort Moultrie from just off Morris Island as a large number of spectators on the beach watch the action, 1863. By Haas and Peale.

Source.

Profile view of the USS New Ironsides (center) leaving Hampton Roads for North Carolina. Source.