Harpers's Weekly 1864 Part 1

📖 The Scoop

This is a selective collection of Harper’s Weekly woodcut Civil War images appearing during early 1864, along with the original descriptions of illustrations. The focus is Warrenton town and Fauquier County Virginia, and beyond.

About This Document -- Several years ago, Fauquier resident Paul Mellon kindly gifted a collection of Harper’s Weekly news magazines to the Fauquier Historical Society. They are a great educational source of engraved images highlighting Civil War events published when most newspapers were only words. The images illuminate the story.

Harper’s artists were busy making on-scene images for woodcut engravings including many of Warrenton, Fauquier County and nearby environs in Northern Virginia. Warrenton, the county seat, was of military importance as a commercial crossroads including a railroad branch line terminus. It changed occupiers sixty-seven times during the War. It was the hub for Confederate Col. John S Mosby’s partisan raiders who were citizens by day and raiders at night. With daring raids they strategically kept the Union’s Army of the Potomac bottled up in Northern Virginia protecting /repairing supply lines and Washington DC. Fauquier was also home to many enslaved, about 48% of the population at the beginning of the War. The images are in high resolution and were digitally enhanced to give readers, students and researchers clarity.

Genre: History / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877) (fancy, right?)