Stone Church, Centreville, Va

Stone Church, Centreville, Va. was captured by the photographers George N. Barnard and James F. Gibson. Taken in March 1862, the image clearly shows damage to the land, as well the broken windows of the Stone Church in the centre of the photograph.

Centreville, Virginia, was close to the fighting around Bull Run. It was fortified by the Confederates and became a supply depot for much of the war.

Gardner’s description of this image makes reference to the devastation the conflict was inflicting on America’s landscape. Commenting that the town and the surrounding countryside was once peaceful farmland, it is noted that 'scarcely a vestige of its former self remains'.