In selecting these prints it has been the desire of the editor to present, as nearly as possible, a chronological pictorial record of the Civil War in the United States. At strategic points where the large cameras could not be drawn into the conflict, Brady used a smaller and lighter camera that allowed him to get very close to the field of action. Many of the most critical moments in the long siege are embodied in these small negatives. They link the larger pictures into one strong chain of indisputable evidence. It would require forty volumes to present the entire collection. This book can be but a kaleidoscopic vision of the great conflict. Thousands of remarkable scenes must for the present, at least remain unveiled. That the public may know just what these negatives conceal, a partial record has been compiled in the closing pages of this volume.

It has been estimated that since the beginning of authentic history war has destroyed fifteen billions of human lives. I have seen the estimate put at twice that number. The estimated loss of life by war in the past century is fourteen millions. Napoleon's campaigns of twenty years cost Europe six millions of lives.

The Crimean War1854750,000
The Italian War185963,000
Our Civil War, North and South(killed and died in other ways)1,000,000
The Prussian-Austrian War186645,000
The expeditions to Mexico, China, Morocco, etc 65,000
The Franco-German War1870250,000
The Russo-Turkish War1877225,000
The Zulu and Afghan Wars187940,000
The Chinese-Japanese War189410,000
The Spanish-American War 5,000
The Philippine War1899{ Americans 5,000
{ Filipinos 1,000,000
The Boer War(killed and wounded){ Boers 25,000
{ British 100,000
The Russo-Japanese War 450,500

These are probably all under the actual facts.

Benjamin F. Trueblood,
Secretary American Peace Society.

The drama here revealed by the lens is one of intense realism. In it one can almost hear the beat of the drum and the call of the bugle. It throbs with all the passions known to humanity. It brings one face to face with the madness of battle, the thrill of victory, the broken heart of defeat. There is in it the loyalty of comradeship, the tenderness of brotherhood, the pathos of the soldier's last hour; the willingness to sacrifice, the fidelity to principle, the love of country.

Far be it from the power of these old negatives to bring back the memory of forgotten dissensions or long-gone contentions. Whatever may have been the differences that threw a million of America's strongest manhood into bloody combat, each one offered his life for what he believed to be the right. The American People today are more strongly united then ever before—North, South, East and West, all are working for the moral, the intellectual, the industrial and political upbuilding of Our Beloved Land.

The path of Progress has been blazed by fire. Strong men with strong purposes have thrown their lives on the altar of civilization that their children and their children's children might live and work in the light of a new epoch that found its birth in the agonizing throes of human sacrifice. From the beginning of all ages the soldier has been, and always must be, a mighty man.

He who will step deliberately into the demon's jaws to defend a principle or to save his country must be among the greatest of men. His is the heroic heart to whom the world must look for the dawn of the Age of Universal Peace. It is his courageous arm that must force the world to halt. The citizenship of the future must be moulded and dominated by the men with the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Justice and such men are soldiers, whether it be in War or Peace.

There is a longing in the hearts of men, and especially those who have felt the ravages of battle, for the day when there shall be no more War; when Force will be dethroned and Reason will rule triumphant. The Great Washington, who led the conflict for our National Independence, longed for the epoch of Peace. "My first wish," he exclaimed, "is to see this plague to mankind banished from the earth."