From the New York Times, 7/26/1864

Brady’s Photographs from the Seat of War.

The war which we are waging for our national existence is, in its attendant circumstances, as well as in its origin and its vastness, unlike any other known to history. One of its peculiarities is the copiousness of its cotemporary records – records not made from hearsay or inference, but by correspondents and combatants who actually saw that of which they write. Not the least interesting of these cotemporary memorials of our great struggle are the photographs “from the front,” which the eminent photographer, Mr. BRADY, brings back from expeditions which carry him so far into the hurly-burly of the fight that they are only not military because he is not armed save with his camera. The fruits of his last visit to the seat of war in Virginia, made immediately after taking his remarkable series of views of the Metropolitan Fair which now adorn his gallery, are perhaps the most interesting of all that we owe to his enterprise, his taste and skill, and which he has now on exhibition and for sale. Among these some of the most noteworthy are, “The Great Pontoon Bridge,” by which the Army of the Potomac passed the James River – the longest ever made and thrown over the deepest water ever thus spanned; a view of “Belle Plain,” a charming subject, worthy of KENSETT’S pencil; the “Burial Place at Fredericksburgh,” where shrouded heroes lie prepared for their long sleep beneath the sod; “A Group of Wounded Men,” at the same place; they sit upon the grass and talk cheerily together; views of “Port Royal and City Point;” a glimpse of “Burnside’s Corps in motion; “Rebel Prisoners at White House” – a multitudinous and motley group; the “Battle-field at Fredericksburgh;” “COOPER’S First Pennsylvania Battery,” and “Gen. POTTER and his Staff,” both of which were taken under fire; in examining which the inexperienced observer will be surprised to see how quietly fighting men carry themselves under such circumstances. These photographs have one advantage over many of a similar kind which come from abroad, in that, while they are sharp and clear, most of them are not too large to be placed in albums and portfolios that can lie upon the parlor table. To those of the kind above noticed Mr. BRADY has added groups of Gens. GRANT, MEADE, HANCOCK, and, in fact, all the principal corps and division Commanders of note, with their staffs, in camp and in fighting trim; thus enabling us who “live at home at ease” to see just how the men live and look who are fighting the battles of the Republic.

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