Photograph of an unidentified military hospital at St. Louis, Missouri; the thirty-four star flag hanging next to the building would indicate the photo was taken sometime between 1861 and 1863.

St. Louis played an important role in the Civil War as the main Union supply depot on the Mississippi River, headquarters for the Western Department, and later the Department of the Missouri, and the site of recruiting and mustering camps for new soldiers, prisons, and hospitals.

Photograph Williams & Cornwell, St. Louis, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 31572