Rare surviving photos of Confederate soldiers have been colourised to bring the destruction of the Civil War to life.
They show bloody bodies strewn across the ground and left to rot after battles against Union fighters.
One moving image shows a dead Confederate lying next the grave of a fallen federal soldier.
Away from the death and destruction of the battlefields, other colourised images include portraits of Confederate generals including the commander of the Confederates States of America, Robert Edward Lee.
Rare surviving photos of Confederate soldiers have been colourised to bring the destruction of the Civil War to life. Pictured: Soldiers dead in front of Dunker Church after the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland
This moving image shows a dead Confederate soldier lying next the grave of a federal soldier after the Battle of Antietam
Stark images show bloody bodies strewn across the ground and left to rot after battles against Union fighters. Pictured: A dead soldier in Petersburg, Virginia
The photographs were carefully colourised by Mads Madsen, from Horsens, Denmark.
He spent between 12 to 14 hours colourising the pictures of the dead men at Dunker Church and Antietam alone.
‘You’re seeing Confederate soldiers; both good and bad, deceased or alive, out on the battlefield or in a studio getting their pictures taken,’ Madsen said.
‘Only a handful of Confederate images survived the war, compared to the amount of Union images, so you’re getting a rare insight into a time long forgotten.
‘I’m pretty good at distancing myself from the subject matter and working in bits and pieces, bit-by-bit – so rather than looking at the image as a whole, I look at it in bite-sized pieces; which definitely makes everything a whole lot easier.’
Other colourised images include portraits of Confederate generals including the commander of the Confederates States of America, Robert Edward Lee (left) and his second son Rooney (right)
Destruction: A Confederate soldier lies dead on next to his rifle and a pile of logs after the Battle of Spotsylvania in May 1964
The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865. Pictured: Confederate generals Richard S. Ewell (left) and James Longstreet (right)
The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865. The confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, closely following the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, who supported the banning of slavery in all the US territories.
Madesen said: ‘The photos are a piece of history, a cultural treasure – it’s an insight into a certain set of people who might not agree with the same things we agree with today and who might have made a lot of mistakes, but at the end of the day, they’re just as human as you and I.’
‘Having studied the Civil War as much as I have, I find it very significant when I find a high quality, well-preserved, and digitalised photograph of a Confederate; so it’s a lot more significant than a Union soldier or Officer, which adds to my “need” to bring it to life.’
The striking images feature in a new book titled Retrographic: History in Living Colour by British author Michael Carroll.
The confederates attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina, closely following the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. Pictured: Robert Lee on his porch
Other fascinating colorized photos bring to life the men and woman who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
They show the conspirators handcuffed before their trial alongside what is thought to be the last photo of Lincoln before his death.
Another photo shows the moment four of the plotters were hanged in front of a crowd at Fort McNair.
The 16th President of the United States was shot dead at the theater by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.
David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt were executed for their role in the assassination.
These fascinating colorized photos bring to life the men involved in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Left: David Herold who led Booth’s escape. Right: Lewis Powell who failed to kill Secretary of State William Seward
From left to right: Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, David Herold being taken to the scaffold on July 7th 1865
Michael O’Laughlen, Samuel Arnold, Samuel Mudd and Edmund Spangler were imprisoned.
Each conspirator was assigned a different role in the comprehensive assassination attempt of several high-profile government members.
Edmund Spangler helped Booth escape but he was spared death because he didn’t know about the assassination in advance. Booth was shot by Union forces after a dramatic 12-day manhunt led by David Herold.
Powell had been responsible for the bungled assassination attempt of the Secretary of State, William Seward on the same night.
Atzerodt had been planning an attempt of the life of the Vice President, Andrew Johnson, but is said to have lost his nerve.
Left: A colorized image of what is thought to be the last photo of Lincoln before his death. Right: John Wilkes Booth
John Bingham, Judge Joseph Holt, and Brigadier General Henry Burnett, prosecutors for Lincoln assassination trial
The conspirators met in a Washington boarding house owned by Mary Surratt. Their trial ended on June 30 with Surratt, Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt all sentenced to death.
They were given a military trial as opposed to a civilian one, though, with much controversy over the way in which it was handled.
‘The trial, under military jurisdiction, was controversial in that the defence for the accused was not given time to prepare, the accused were forbidden from testifying in their own defence, a lower level of proof was required to convict than in civilian courts, and only a majority verdict among jurors was required for the death sentence to be imposed,’ says author Michael D. Carroll.
‘The Southern states accused the North of imposing a military trial to avoid the opportunity for civilian jurors to show clemency towards the accused.
Left: Samuel Arnold pictured before his trial. Right: Conspirator Lewis Powell standing in overcoat and hat
‘The prisoners stood for ten seconds before Roth clapped his hands and four soldiers below the scaffold knocked out the supports for the platform they were standing on.
‘They dropped and Surratt’s rope snapped cleanly, with no movement afterwards.
‘Atzerodt heaved before falling still, but Herold and Powell, the chief conspirators, were strangled for five minutes. Powell stuggled wildly, pulling his legs up in towards his chest several times, before he was eventually still.’