State Historical Society of Iowa

African Americans Collecting Bones of Soldiers Killed in Cold Harbor, Virginia, April 1865

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This photograph, published by John Reekie in April 1865, portrays five African-Americans collecting bones of soldiers killed in battle during Ulysses S. Grant’s 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign. In the foreground an African-American squats near a stretcher filled with skulls, bones, and decaying limbs.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Reekie, John, "[Cold Harbor, Va. African Americans collecting bones of soldiers killed in the battle]," April 1865

Description

This photograph, published by John Reekie in April 1865, portrays five African Americans collecting bones of soldiers killed in battle during Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign. In the foreground, an African American squats near a stretcher filled with skulls, bones and decaying limbs. 

Source-Dependent Questions

  • What word or phrase comes to mind when you examine this photograph? Explain how the details contained within it led you to your selection.
  • The Civil War was the first American war captured by photography. What impact would photography have had on civilians back home?

Citation Information 

Reekie, John, "[Cold Harbor, Va. African Americans collecting bones of soldiers killed in the battle]," April 1865. Courtesy of Library of Congress