Bull Run Russell
Artist
Charles DeForest Fredricks
(American, 1823-1894)
CultureAmerican
Date1860s-1870s
MediumAlbumen
DimensionsOverall, Support: 4 x 2 3/8 in. (10.2 x 6 cm)
Overall, Image: 3 9/16 x 2 1/8 in. (9.1 x 5.4 cm)
Overall, Image: 3 9/16 x 2 1/8 in. (9.1 x 5.4 cm)
InscribedLogo printed on reverse: "Charles D. Fredericks & Co., / `Specialité,' / 587 Broadway. New York.". Handwritten in ink on mount below image: "Bull Run Russel". Written reverse top in pencil: "Bull Run Russel".
Credit LineMuseum purchase and gift of Reid Diggs, Jr.
Object number90.134
Collections
Not on view
DescriptionThis albumen carte de visite is a three-quarter-length standing portrait of William Howard, or "Bull Run", Russell (1820-1907), English war correspondent. Famous as a war correspondent before and after the Civil War, he exposed mismanagement in the Crimean War (1855-1856) and contributed to the fall of the Aberdeen ministry. He is credited with inspiring the work of Florence Nightingale, and with applying the phrase "thin red line" to the British infantry at Balaklava. In America, 1861-1863, as a correspondent for the "London Times". Referring to McDowell's green troops as a "rabble" army, he earned the nickname "Bull Run" Russell for his panic-stricken flight from that battlefielt. He wrote a book on his American experiences in 1862, MY DIARY, NORTH AND SOUTH.... He was knighted in 1895. This CDV is from the studio of Charles DeForest Fredericks (American, 1823-1894). The mount is rectangular with the face of the card bordered by double gilt lines. Mr. Russell is standing facing the camera, turned slightly to his proper right; his right hand rests on a cane. He is wearing a long double-breasted frock coat with velvet lapels.
