[Unidentified Captain in Confederate uniform]

Archive record

1 photograph : albumen print on card mount ; mount 163 x 107 mm (cabinet card format)

About this photograph

This albumen print shows an unidentified Confederate captain, produced by Campbell & Co. of Richmond, Virginia in 1861. The cabinet card format mount measures 163 by 107 millimetres.

Soldiers on both sides commonly sat for studio portraits before leaving for service, providing families with an image should they not return. Photography was widespread by the time of the Civil War, though exposure times made action photographs impossible. The visual record of the conflict consists overwhelmingly of portraits, camp scenes, fortifications and battlefield dead photographed after fighting had ended.

Richmond served as the Confederate capital, making it a natural centre for military portraiture during the war. The photograph dates from 1861, the war's opening year, when volunteers were still enlisting and having their likenesses taken in uniform. The captain's identity has not been preserved with the image.

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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