Historical Portrait
[First Lieutenant James N. Bell of Co. H, 5th Virginia Cavalry Regiment and Co. C, 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment in uniform with his wife and daughter, Emmeline and Nannie Claudia Bell]
![[First Lieutenant James N. Bell of Co. H, 5th Virginia Cavalry Regiment and Co. C, 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment in uniform with his wife and daughter, Emmeline and Nannie Claudia Bell], 1861 (Library of Congress)](/api/img/first-lieutenant-james-n-bell-of-co-h-5th-virginia-cavalry-regiment-and-co-c-13t-KlZplH0iRMJr4W9iED98.jpg)
Archive record
1 photograph : hand-colored ambrotype ; plate 107 x 81 mm (quarter plate format), case 119 x 93 mm. | Photograph shows identified soldier, who was captured at Winton, North Carolina, and imprisoned for eight months, and his wife and daughter.
About this photograph
The archive record identifies First Lieutenant James N. Bell, who served in Company H of the 5th Virginia Cavalry Regiment and Company C of the 13th Virginia Cavalry Regiment. He appears here with his wife Emmeline and daughter Nannie Claudia Bell in a hand-colored ambrotype made in quarter plate format.
According to the record, Bell was captured at Winton, North Carolina, and held as a prisoner of war for eight months. The photograph dates from 1861, the first year of the Civil War.
The ambrotype process created a positive image on glass backed with dark material, popular in the 1850s and 1860s. This example received hand-coloring, a common enhancement of the period. The image survives in its original case.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
About the format
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