Timothy O’Sullivan – Irish photographer of the American Civil War

Much of Timothy O’Sullivan’s collection is held at the Library of Congress, including photographs of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army.

Timothy O’Sullivan was born in Ireland and immigrated to New York with his parents when he was two (although some different accounts of his life state that he was born in New York). As a teenager, he became an apprentice to the Irish-American photographer Matthew Brady.

His photographs capture the raw and haunting reality of war, documenting the devastation, landscape and human toll it wreaked. O’Sullivan’s work was groundbreaking, and he used new photographic techniques and equipment to create powerful images that had a lasting impact on the visual record of historical events.

O’Sullivan worked with Brady during the first year of the Civil War, and in 1862, when fellow photographer Alexander Gardner moved to establish his own studio, O’Sullivan became his assistant. Gardner and O’Sullivan were among the first photographers to arrive at Gettysburg, and O’Sullivan traveled frequently with the Union Army, witnessing many other key points. In the war.

He later traveled west on several geological survey expeditions, even leading his own expedition in 1873. O’Sullivan died of tuberculosis in 1882. He was only 42 years old. He is buried in St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery Staten Island.

In May 2014, some of O’Sullivan’s most famous photos had been taken 150 times. In May 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army launched the Overland Campaign, which aimed to drive a wedge of Union troops between Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.

Today, Timothy O’Sullivan is remembered as a pioneer of photography and a key figure in the history of photojournalism. His photographs continue to be studied and admired by historians, photographers and the general public.

The Library of Congress has a large collection of O’Sullivan’s photographs. highlight The author is archaeologist Damian Shiels. The Irish in the American Civil War Place. By clicking Head to the gallery to see footage of Grant and his officers captured during the campaign, the base of Union high command at Massaponax Church, the aftermath of the Battle of Spotsylvania, and more.

* Originally published May 2014, updated July 2023.