Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization was published in New York City from 1857 to 1916. Though imperfect, as most print media was in the late nineteenth century, Harper’s Weekly records the important events of America’s Civil War. It contains many wonderful illustrations that give modern readers a glimpse into that critical period’s military and civilian events. We are proud to have a small but growing collection of original issues of Harper’s Weekly, which we have scanned at high resolution and offer here for free to researchers and Civil War buffs alike.
The following issues cover events from the summer of 1861 like the burning of Hampton, Union defense preparations for Washington DC, the war in Missouri, the escape of slaves to Fort Monroe, as well as a rich array of illustrations of field commanders and army camp life.
- Harper’s Weekly, Vol. 5 No. 242, August 17, 1861.
- Harper’s Weekly, Vol. 5 No. 243, August 24, 1861.
- Harper’s Weekly, Vol. 5 No. 244, August 31, 1861.
Head to our Artifacts page to check out our small but growing collection! We now have nine full issues of Harper’s Weekly available for free.
Spirit of '61 