The full picture:
Photo courtesy of The Library of Congress
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Confederate cannons in Richmond - 1865
I love the two guys in the shot below. I combined two halves of a Civil War era stereograph to create the full image, which can be found just below this close up of two Confederate soldiers:
The full picture:
The full picture:
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I assume that is at Rocket's after the city fell? am I correct? I can see the masts and what looks like a burnt building in the background. I am by no means a uniform expert but they look too clean to be Confederates.
ReplyDeleteI would love to think that was Fulton in the background if it is Rocket's.
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I wasn't quite sure of the location. Judging by the burned buildings in the background, I was thinking maybe somewhere near Tredegar Iron Works?
DeleteThe soldier in the foreground has a union uniform on. The insignia is on the shoulders. THe confederate uniforms had it on the collar.
DeleteLooks like a Federal quartermaster officer [Federal officers wore rank insignia on their shoulders, Confederates on their collars and sleeve cuffs] and a civilian.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I was just going by what the Library of Congress said about this photo. I'm no expert on Civil War era uniforms by any stretch of the imagination.
DeleteThats what I thought. Didn't want to talk out of school. Any guess on the location?
ReplyDeleteVery cool. There are about 10 shots of the area taken, apparently, on the same day. They are in the online Library of Congress collection. Some are from Libby Hill and others are from down on the waterfront showing buildings and covered wharf. You can also see the Graves boatyard on the southside of the river. Archaeologist Taft Kiser has done a lot of work identifying the activities and the potential date of the images. They were apparently taken during a 1 day window when Mary Todd Lincoln visited Richmond on the Union steamer River Queen in April 1865.
ReplyDeleteDid Mary come to Richmond? As I understand when she should have come with Abe but got mad when she found him riding a carriage with another woman leaving the day before Abe came to RVA. The only family that came with Abe was Tad. I would love to know abou that. Been wrong before.
DeleteI have found that she did come the day after Lincoln. Will need to look more into that. I hope to have a bit more info on www.historyreplaystoday.com in the future.
DeleteGot this comment about the photo from a pretty reliably source:
ReplyDelete"the guy on the right is a federal officer (1st lieutenant) with a 24th corps badge (heart) who were then under Butler's Army of the James. Other guy just wears civilian clothing, probably a tag-along to the army or photographer's assistant. Cannons appear to be predominantly 12-lb. Napoleons."
Yes, Mary came after Abe had already left. She got in a huff over one of Grant's generals' wives flirting with the President and commanded the River Queen, chartered in her service, to go back to Washington. She then apparently had a change of heart and returned a day later and wanted to see Richmond. The President had left by the time she arrived. Here is a wonderful shot taken from down on the waterfront. You can observed a (likely) Confederate gunboat, still on its cradle in front of the old brick "Byrd" warehouse on the southside. If you open in tiff, you can see Mrs. Lincoln's River Queen, the Narragansett and a smaller dark colored steamer that we have not been able to identify yet. The President used River Queen as well. My initial post was accidentally labeled "Anonymous." Bruce Terrell
ReplyDeleteYea, Thanks Bruce! That is all great info and a pretty great sounding story. I appreciate the help. There is always more to learn, t's one of my favorite parts of history.
ReplyDeleteThose look like Yankee uniforms to me.
ReplyDelete