Details, details: Examining 1865 image of Charleston's City Hall

(George Barnard | Library of Congress collection)

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Of all the images taken by Connecticut-born photographer George Barnard in Union-occupied Charleston, S.C., in April 1865, this one of City Hall at the corner of Broad and Meeting streets is my favorite. Cropped enlargements reveal many cool details, such as ...

... these seven Federal soldiers relaxing on a bench in front of the ornate fence and railing to the grand building, constructed in the early 19th century ...

... and in a window on the Meeting Street side of the building (at left), another soldier leans against the sill ...

... while below him at street level, these two Yankees stare at the cameraman. Is that rubble in the foreground a result of the Union navy's frequent shelling of the city?

... and here's a Federal officer under a street lamp.

On the porch of City Hall, a Federal soldier leans against the railing. Note the musket in the background. ...

... while near the right corner of City Hall, a soldier with a musket resting on his shoulder stands near stacked arms.

Damage undoubtedly caused by the Union navy's shelling is apparent to the right of the Meeting street sign ...

... and on Broad Street, a man -- perhaps a Union sailor judging from his attire -- stands near what undoubtedly is more damage caused by the dastardly Yankee navy. Yards away from him another man leans against the building and stares down Broad Street. Perhaps his gaze caught this famous building.

As this Then & Now shows, City Hall survived The Late Unpleasantness, and the war-damaged building was repaired long ago. What else do you see in Barnard's photograph?

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Then & Now: Old Market Hall in Charleston, S.C.

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In December 1861, many buildings in Charleston, S.C., were destroyed in a fire and beginning in late 1863, the historic city suffered periodic shelling from Union artillery, causing further destruction. Among the buildings to survive were City Hall and Market Hall at 188 Meeting Street, both subjects in April 1865 of Connecticut-born photographer George Barnard.

Beginning in the 1790s, this four-block area in Charleston was known for its markets -- area farmers would sell their crops and other goods here. Using stone from as far away as Italy, New York and Connecticut, the Greek Revival-style Market Hall was completed in 1841 to replace another building that had been destroyed by fire. The one-story sheds, which can be seen at the extreme right of the Then & Now images, stretched to near the harbor water front and were rented out for a dollar or two a day to meat, vegetable and fish vendors. Scraps of food tossed into the street were snatched up by buzzards, which became known as Charleston Eagles.

During the war, local men and boys joined the Confederate army at Market Hall, and in 1899, a Confederate museum that includes artifacts from area soldiers was established here. Today, many of those artifacts may be seen on the second floor, which houses the United Daughters of the Confederacy Museum. The Market Hall area remains popular for shopping and more..

Taken during the Civil War, the "Then" image is available in jpg and TIFF formats on the Library of Congress web site. The "Now" image, a cropped version of a Google Street View shot, nearly duplicates Barnard's view. (For all Then & Now images on my blog, go here.)

I was curious if an enlargement of the original image would reveal cool details, For grins, here's what I found:

Two people, blurred in Barnard's image, a horse and the ornate iron railing in front of Market Hall.

Then & Now: Charleston (S.C.) City Hall survives destruction

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Beginning in late 1863, Union artillery pounded Charleston, S.C., destroying chunks of the historic port city that had survived a massive fire in December 1861. After the capture of Charleston shortly before the war ended, Connecticut-born photographer George Barnard shot images of ruins as well as photographs of the grand architecture that remained. By the end of the war, the 45-year-old photographer was a veteran of the conflict -- he had shot images throughout Virginia as well as with Sherman's army in Tennessee and during its capture of Atlanta and its infamous March To The Sea.

Among Barnard's subject matter in Charleston in April 1865 was City Hall at 80 Broad Street, a short distance from the harbor and Fort Sumter, where the death and destruction started four years earlier. As Barnard trained his bulky, glass-plate camera on the beautiful, early 19th-century building, Union soldiers gathered on the portico and on a bench near steps leading to the entrance. Bricks were missing near a window, perhaps evidence of Yankee shellfire striking the building that remains a landmark today.

The present-day photo comes from a Google Street View camera shooting from a position almost identical to Barnard's Civil War spot. Per usual, I used the excellent, free Juxtapose tool for the Then & Now comparison. For all the Civil War Then & Now images on my blog, click here.

In an enlargement of Barnard's image of Charleston City Hall, Union soldiers gather on the portico
and in front of the beautiful building. Note the missing bricks near the window at left, 
perhaps evidence of a Union artillery hit.

A Civil War-era stereoview of  Charleston City Hall, which survived destruction.
(Library of Congress)

Seven Pines battlefield: Amazing details in June 1862 images

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In June 1862, George Barnard photographed United States soldiers near earthworks at Casey's Redoubt on the Seven Pines battlefield in Virginia. Remarkable details appear in Civil War glass-plate images, which may be found in downloadble TIFF format on the excellent Library of Congress web site. 

In the foreground of Barnard's image, a 32-pounder field howitzer points toward Confederate lines about a mile away. On May 31-June 1, 1862, the two armies fought to a draw here at the Battle of Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks), resulting in more than 11,000 casualties. Richmond, the Confederate capital, was only eight miles away . ...

... in this cropped enlargement of the original, at least seven Union soldiers stare intently at Barnard's bulky camera ...

;... and these Yankees doze near them. The soldier at right uses an ammunition crate and what appears to be a rolled-up blanket to catch a few winks while an artilleryman, a sword in a scabbard at his side, rests on the ground near him. ...

... two pick axes, a shovel and a musket lay on the ground in front of these soldiers ...

... and look behind these three men. There's a large group of soldiers, muskets on their shoulders. ...

... in many accounts, soldiers recalled the two battlefield landmarks that appear in the middle distance of the image. Both armies used the "Twin Houses," built along the Williamsburg Road, as a hospital. The Federals also used the structures for a headquarters.

"I had the privilege of being one of the first Union Surgeons to enter the Twin Houses of Fair Oaks used as a hospital by the rebels," a doctor noted months later. "Some sick belonging to our army were there at the time of the commencement of the battle and remained there. From them I learned that the Confederate Surgeons treated them most kindly and gave them the only medicine they had — a little whiskey."

Obliterated by post-war development, the scene in the photograph is unrecognizable today, and the Twin Houses have long since been torn down.

... in the left distance of Barnard's photograph, horses and soldiers gather in the shade of a stand of trees. ...

... Barnard also shot this image at Seven Pines. It shows the other side of the Twin Houses ...

... the redoubt featured prominently in Barnard's first image appears in the background in this enlargement of his second image. ...

... while in another enlargement of the original image, Union soldiers gather at one of the Twin Houses. One of them peers into the window of the house, perhaps still in use as a hospital. ...

... but the most interesting, and sobering, detail of Barnard's image is this cropped enlargement of the foreground, which shows fresh graves of soldiers who died at Seven Pines. According to the image caption, more than 400 fallen rest in this field. Below, an illustration from the 103rd Pennsylvania regimental history shows burial crews interring bodies and dead horses burning near the Twin Houses. The number of Federals disinterred after the war and reburied in Seven Pines National Cemetery is unknown.