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.

American Troops Aiming Their Rifles Down a Road in Bonvillers, France (1918)

American troops aiming their rifles down a road in Bonvillers, France, May 22, 1918. Possibly an authentic combat photograph.

Source.

View of a 14-Inch US Navy Railroad Gun Firing at German Positions in Thierville, France (1918)

View of a 14-inch US Navy railroad gun firing at German positions in Thierville, France, 1918.

Source.

Photograph of American Troops During the Battle of Manila (1898)

Photograph of American troops during the Battle of Manila captioned “Advance on Left of American lines. Signal Corps extending telegraph lines from trenches. Flags displayed to indicate to the Navy progress of the advance. August 13, 1898.”

Source.

View of Lines of British Infantry Advancing Towards Entrenched Boer Positions on the Crest of Pieter’s Hill During the Battle of the Tugela Heights Near Colenso, South Africa (1900)

View of lines of British infantry advancing towards entrenched Boer positions on the crest of Pieter’s Hill during the Battle of the Tugela Heights near Colenso, South Africa, February 1900.

Source.
More information.

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.

An American Soldier Firing a Bazooka at an Axis Target 300 Yards Away Near Lucca, Italy (1944)

An American soldier firing a bazooka at an Axis target 300 away distant near Lucca, Italy, September 7, 1944. Original caption: "This Negro combat patrol advanced three miles north of Lucca (furthermost point occupied by American troops) to contact an enemy machine gun nest. Here a bazooka-man cuts loose at the target some 300 yards distant."

Source.

View of Confederate-held Vicksburg Said to be Taken While Under Confederate Fire During the Siege of Vicksburg (1863)

"Vicksburg, taken under fire." View of Confederate-held Vicksburg from Union lines across the Mississippi River which was said to be taken while under Confederate fire during the Siege of Vicksburg, 1863. Caption written by Assistant Surgeon George H. Bixby. From Miller’s Photographic History of the Civil War.

The Russian Cruiser Pallada Moments After Being Struck by a 500 lb. Japanese Artillery Shell During the Siege of Port Arthur (1904)

The Russian cruiser Pallada (left) moments after being struck by a 500 lb. Japanese artillery shell during the Siege of Port Arthur, 1904. Animated stereoview.

Source.

A Japanese Mine Exploding Under the Defenses of a Russian-held Fort on East Kikwan Hill During the Siege of Port Arthur (1904)

Photograph of a Japanese mine exploding under the defenses of a Russian-held fort on East Kikwan Hill during the Siege of Port Arthur, 1904. Probably the first photograph of a mine explosion during a conflict. The second photograph is of Japanese infantry assaulting the same Russian fort and was probably taken soon after the mine exploded.

MFA version of first image.

Source of second image.

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.

French Soldiers Awaiting a German Assault?

French soldiers in trenches near Compiègne said to be awaiting a German attack but probably taken during training. The lack of any ground torn up by shell holes and the exposed position of the cameraman are good indications that this was taken during training. The closest that stereoscopic cameras seemed to have really come to photographing combat in World War I was capturing artillery shells exploding. Animated stereoview.

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.

Distant Glimpse of the Second Battle of Fredericksburg in Progress (1863)

Three men in a tree on Stafford Heights watching distant fighting on Marye’s Heights during the Second Battle of Fredericksburg, 1863. Smoke from the battle is possibly visible in the distance which would make it one of the earliest combat photographs of a land battle. The destroyed railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River is in the middle ground of the photo.

Photograph is from the National Park Service via the Western Reserve Historical Society, which seems to have a large collection of previously unpublished American Civil War photographs. The photograph was discovered by Bob Zeller, the president of the Center for Civil War Photography.

Source.