Library of Congress Posts its "Civil War Faces" Photo Collection on Flickr

In remembrance of the soldiers who served in the Civil War, a rare private collection of almost 700 ambrotype and tintype photographs was recently donated to the Library of Congress. All 693 photos have been posted on Flickr and can be viewed using the link below. While the photos are mostly of unidentified soldiers, you can read some of the personal stories that did survive in notes found with the photo cases.

The Library of Congress has asked that you contact them if you recognize a face from your family, a regiment, or a photographer’s painted studio backdrop or if you have any other information that can assist them in indentifying the photos.

These hauntingly beautiful and poignant photographs provide a powerful glimpse into the past ... and the young faces of the many enlisted men, more than 600,000 of whom would never return home.

The original photographs will also be on display in “The Last Full Measure”, a special exhibit running April 12, 2011 through August 13, 2011, in the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, DC.