Born in 1821, Alexander Gardner was a Paisley boy, before setting off in 1851 for London where he met American photographer Matthew Brady. In 1856 he left Britain by ship for American where he reunited with Brady and joined his studio. Subsequently Gardner went on to become one of the first, and most famous war photographers, documenting the aftermaths of the battles of Gettyburg, Petersburg and Fredericksburg.  Gardner also photographed Abraham Lincoln and the execution of the conspirators to the Lincoln’s assassination. 

The following little film, comes via Hulton Getty archive, and takes a look at Gardener’s ‘Sketch Book of the American Civil War’. Document Scotland has blogged previously about the iPad app of Gardner’s ‘Sketch Book of the American Civil War’.