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The First Great American War Photograph |
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The First Great American War Photograph
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This image by James F. Gibson, taken on June 27, 1862 at Savage Station, Virginia, was the first American war photograph to capture a sense of what the war really was. This candid view shows the hastily organized field hospital of the straw-hatted Sixteenth New York Infantry after the battle of Gaines' Mill during the Peninsular Campaign. In the foreground, a regimental surgeon works on a soldier who appears to be holding a compress to his head. Many other wounded soldiers are too badly hurt to even notice the presence of a photographer. Two days later, most of these men were captured in a massive Confederate counterattack.
Back view
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James Gibson photographed this view while working for M.B. Brady under the supervision of Washington gallery manager Alexander Gardner. When Gardner left Brady and started his own gallery in 1863, he took the battlefield negatives made under his supervision. Most of the staff photographers defected as well, including Gibson. This original wartime print carries Gardner's backmark.
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