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

Review

An engaging and human portrait of the Civil War. (Weekly Standard 2005)
Faces of the Civil War not only exhibits Coddington's appreciation and understanding of Civil War history but also his passion for early photography. (C. D. Myers Knight Ridder Newspapers 2005)
The book helps to humanize the men who volunteered for 'Father Abraham's' army and illustrates that some of the war's experiences have changed little over the last century and a half. (Heidi Campbell-Shoaf Civil War Times Illustrated 2004)
This is a well-written, well-documented and interesting little book. (Michael J. Winey Civil War Book News 2004)
A fascinating window into the war's impact on the individual soldier... well researched and engagingly written. Any teacher of the Civil War would do well to consult this volume and incorporate some of the captivating tales into lectures and readings. (Lisa M. Brady Journal of Military History 2004)
A tour-de-force. The cartes de visite of soldiers proudly posed in their uniforms and the narratives of their lives, drawn from the veterans' service and pension records, enable the reader to better understand the grim realities that confronted Civil War soldiers and sailors on the battlefield, in camp, on the march, at the hospital, and also on the home front. (Edwin C. Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus, National Park Service 2006)
I recommend this book to all the Civil War buffs out there. (Daniel Caplice Lynch Berkshire Eagle 2005)
First-class storytelling that skillfully combines words and images to educate and fascinate at the same time. (Bob Zeller, president, Center for Civil War Photography, Florida )
Faces of the Civil War is one of those rare prizes that has multiple entry points. (C.D. Myers Times Union )
Ron Coddington's research is prodigious and his writing excellent. The biographical sketches of common soldiers in Faces of the Civil War are engaging and endlessly fascinating. He has made and is making an important addition to Civil War study, bringing to life ordinary men who stepped forward to fight for the Union. (William J. K. Beaudot, author of The 24th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War: The Biography of a Regiment )
77 brilliantly researched stories about the lives of Union soldiers during the Civil War. (Indianapolis Star )
Faces of the Civil War is well worth purchasing and placing in a Civil War library... My copy will always be on a handy shelf. (Michael J. McAfee Military Collector & Historian )
With his meticulous research and a journalist's eye for good stories, Ron Coddington has brought new life to Civil War photographic portraits of obscure and long-forgotten Confederates whose wartime experiences might otherwise have been lost to history. This is more than just a fine compilation of Civil War photographs. (Bob Zeller, Center for Civil War Photography )
Ronald S. Coddington has scored a masterpiece again. As a follow-up to his much applauded Faces of the Civil War featuring Union soldiers and sailors, he has authored a sequel. This time Confederates are center sage as they proudly pose for the all-important cartes de visite that are as treasured today by collectors and buffs as by their home folks and comrades of long ago. Complementing these are biographical profiles that inform but do not overwhelm, reminding us that each haunting face is a real person who lived, served and died many years ago. (Edwin C. Bearss, National Park Service )
These are haunting stories—and so are their pictures. (Harold Holzer, Metropolitan Museum of Art Journal of Southern History )
Ron Coddington has produced a fine new volume that will take its place beside William A. Albaugh's Confederate Faces and several other Confederate photographic histories. Coddington's Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories continues the tradition of publishing Confederate soldier portraits, and further restricts the collection to carte de visite format. That, however, is where the similarity with earlier books ends. Instead of the standard fare of somewhat small photographs and brief captions, he provides us with full page or nearly full page pictures, as sharp as modern digital technology can make them, and has thoroughly researched and presented the story of each individual pictured. In that way, he has widened our understanding of these men far beyond the normal presentation. Just as important, for the most part, these are not familiar photographs or well known faces. Instead, they comprise a broad band of individuals about whom little has been published before. Many served in the western theater, though there is certainly good representation from Lee's army. While some of the photographs are from well known collections such as that of the Museum of the Confederacy, far more are from private collectors who have dedicated their lives to finding and saving these rare treasures. I was particularly delighted to see some of Bill Turner's treasures in this book, as well as those of David Wynn Vaughan. In the world of Civil War photography, it is rare to find something that is truly new, but this book fits that bill. (Les Jensen, West Point Museum )

About the Author

Ron Coddington is a visual journalist whose work has appeared in USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the San Jose Mercury News. He currently writes a monthly column, "Faces of War," for The Civil War News. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Anne.