Mathew Brady’s Photographs of Union Generals

March 30, 2012 - May 8, 2016
First floor

Mathew Brady’s Photographs of Union Generals is a part of the Portrait Gallery's series of exhibitions marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Although Brady may be best known for his photographic documentation of the Civil War, his New York and Washington DC galleries also did a brisk business throughout the conflict by producing studio portraits of the ever-changing roster of Union Army generals.

Featuring modern prints made from Brady’s original glass-plate negatives in the National Portrait Gallery’s Frederick Hill Meserve Collection, this installation includes portraits of many of the North’s military leaders, from George McCellan and Ambrose Burnside to William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses Grant.