Bill Howard

The American Civil War is often described as a young person’s fight. While many of the soldiers who fought in the war were less than 18 years of age, there were also thousands of older soldiers who filled the ranks. The average Civil War soldier was about 25 years of age. Although one-quarter of the 2.1 million men who served in the Union military forces were foreign-born, the majority of the soldiers who fought for the union were young white males who were born in North Am

Ambrotype image in half-case by Daniel Denison of Albany, New York circa 1852 (Credit: Bill Howard Collection) During the American Civil War, Daniel Denison (1814-1899) was one of the most accomplished photographers operating in the City of Albany, New York. As thousands of soldiers passed through the Capital City on their way to and from the Front, Denison, along with his business partner, Rensselaer E. Churchill (1820-1892), produced high quality portrait images that are s