Colorized Historical Photos

This is something I have been doing for the past year and I've learned a ton about more obscure Civil War figures by doing it.  I colorize black and white historical photos (so far, mostly portraits).

Here is the most difficult one I've undertaken so far.



114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (Collis Zouaves), Company F, during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, August 1864

I thought that this was going to be a meme

Impressive colourized picture of Adolf Hitler in 1940

Interesting how their pants are red, makes them look almost like Cossacks.

CptCrape wrote:Interesting how their pants are red, makes them look almost like Cossacks.

It does

Uniforms were based on the French Zouaves.

ColorizedPast wrote:Uniforms were based on the French Zouaves.

They stick out like sore thumbs, also like the French.

Cold War Communist wrote:

ColorizedPast wrote:Uniforms were based on the French Zouaves.

They stick out like sore thumbs, also like the French.

All uniforms before the 20th century did. Hell, it's part of the reason why the French army failed in the beginning of WW1 because their troops were still wearing colorful 1800's-esque clothing.

CptCrape wrote:

Cold War Communist wrote:

ColorizedPast wrote:Uniforms were based on the French Zouaves.

They stick out like sore thumbs, also like the French.

All uniforms before the 20th century did. Hell, it's part of the reason why the French army failed in the beginning of WW1 because their troops were still wearing colorful 1800's-esque clothing.

Totally. WWI is when people started to realize that camouflage is better for a huge battle where there is no shortage of targets. The colored uniforms were supposedly put in place to help soldiers distinguish between friend and foe during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries due to the high level of smoke generated by gunpowder from cannons and muskets. I don't know how true that is, but it's what I have come across in reading.

Cold War Communist wrote:

CptCrape wrote:

Cold War Communist wrote:

ColorizedPast wrote:Uniforms were based on the French Zouaves.

They stick out like sore thumbs, also like the French.

All uniforms before the 20th century did. Hell, it's part of the reason why the French army failed in the beginning of WW1 because their troops were still wearing colorful 1800's-esque clothing.

Totally. WWI is when people started to realize that camouflage is better for a huge battle where there is no shortage of targets. The colored uniforms were supposedly put in place to help soldiers distinguish between friend and foe during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries due to the high level of smoke generated by gunpowder from cannons and muskets. I don't know how true that is, but it's what I have come across in reading.

I think one of the main reasons for the uniform change is because warfare changed. The 17th century to the 19th century consisted of line combat with professional troops whereas the 20th century saw mass conscription, less fancy uniforms and trench warfare.

Great job! The photo looks amazing!

Captain John S. Crawford, 114 Pennsylvania Infantry (Collis Zouaves), during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, 1864

Is there anyway you can see to resize the images? They are being cut off pretty badly...

Sure, I'll resize them. I have a 2560 x 1080 monitor so no problem for me...and I'm used to forums rescaling if need be automatically. Hope it is better now.

Major General James Birdseye McPherson (USV)

James Birdseye McPherson was born in Clyde, Ohio on 14 November 1828.  He attended Norwalk Academy and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1853, first in his class, which included Philip H. Sheridan, John M. Schofield, and John Bell Hood.  He was appointed to the Corps of Engineers with the rank of brevet second lieutenant.

For a year, he was assistant instructor of practical engineering at the Military Academy.  From 1854 to 1857, he was an assistant engineer upon the defenses of the harbor of New York and the improvement of the Hudson River.  In 1857, he superintended the building of Fort Delaware, and from 1857 to 1861 was superintending engineer of the construction of the defenses of Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, California.

At the start of the Civil War, McPherson requested transfer to the Corps of Engineers in the East and a position on the staff of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck.  He was sent to St. Louis, Missouri.  He served as a lieutenant colonel and Chief Engineer in Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s army during the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862.

Following the Battle of Shiloh, he was promoted to brigadier general.  On 8 October, he was promoted to major general and given command of the XVII Corps in Grant’s Army of the Tennessee.  On 12 March 1864, he was given command of the Army of the Tennessee, after its former commander, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, was promoted to command of all armies in the West.

He requested leave following his promotion to go home and marry his fiancé Emily Hoffman in Baltimore, Maryland.  Initially granted, Sherman quickly revoked it explaining he needed McPherson for his upcoming Atlanta Campaign.  McPherson’s army was the Right Wing of Sherman’s army, alongside the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of the Ohio.

Sherman planned a feint toward Dalton, Georgia with a bulk of his forces, while McPherson would bear the brunt of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s attack.  Confederate forces escaped the trap, and Sherman blamed McPherson for being slow.  McPherson pursued the Confederates, but the Union suffered tactical defeats at Kennesaw Mountain and Marietta.

On 17 July, Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood replaced Johnston.  Hood first attacked Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’s Army of the Cumberland north of Atlanta on 20 July, at Peachtree Creek.  The attack failed.  Then Hood’s cavalry reported that the left flank of McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee, east of Atlanta, was unprotected.  Hood ordered a new attack.

Sherman believed the Confederates had been defeated and were evacuating.  McPherson, however, rightly believed that they were moving to attack the Union left and rear.  On 22 July, four Confederate divisions under Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee flanked Union Maj. Gen. Grenville Dodge’s XVI Corps.  While McPherson was riding his horse toward his old XVII Corps, a line of Confederate skirmishers appeared, yelling “Halt!”.  McPherson raised his hand to his head as if to remove his hat, but suddenly wheeled his horse, attempting to escape.  The Confederates opened fire and mortally wounded McPherson.

McPherson was the second highest ranking Union officer to be killed in action during the war (the highest ranking was John Sedgwick) and the only Union Army commander killed.

Got tons of these colorized Battleship photos, most of them being Japanese.

Pretty cool!

Miscellaneous, I've collected many photos and propaganda posters from over time.