Ruins at Manassas Junction
Artist
Barnard & Gibson
(American, active 19th century)
CultureAmerican
DateMarch 1862
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 7 5/16 × 9 1/8 in. (18.6 × 23.2 cm)
Overall: 10 1/16 × 7 13/16 in. (25.6 × 19.8 cm)
Overall, Mat: 26 × 17 1/16 in. (66 × 43.3 cm)
Overall: 10 1/16 × 7 13/16 in. (25.6 × 19.8 cm)
Overall, Mat: 26 × 17 1/16 in. (66 × 43.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of David L. Hack and Museum purchase, with funds from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange
Object number98.32.65
Collections
Not on view
DescriptionThe David L. Hack Civil War Photography Collection. This is a black and white photograph. On the right side the focus is on four men sitting on a dirt mound with wooden beams and poles precariously sticking out of the earth. The land slopes down to the left side and three lines of railway tracks are laid out. There are railroad cars going by, and five men on horseback near the center of the picture to the right of the railway tracks. In the distance there are soldier's tents. This is from _Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War_ (Hack Collection No. 2].Label TextMathew Brady Studio George N. Barnard (1819-1902) and James F. Gibson (d. 1905) American Ruins at Manassas Junction, March 1862 Albumen print on Brady Incidents of the War mount 98.32.65 Two battles took place at this strategic location known as "Manassas" in the North and "Bull Run" in the South. The first battle, which served as the first major conflict of the war, took place on July 21, 1861. This location was crucial because it connected the Shenandoah Valley with the Washington-Richmond Railroad. Whichever side commanded the Manassas railroad junction controlled the best overland route to Richmond. The second battle took place August 29-30, 1862: Confederate forces won them both. This image was made by Barnard and Gibson while working for the Mathew Brady Studio. The two photographers, led by Alexander Gardner, severed their relationship with Brady in 1862, taking many of their negatives with them. This image was later published in Alexander Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War bearing the title, Ruins at Manassas Junction. The two-volume Sketch Book was published by Gardner in 1865, with fifty hand-mounted albumen prints in each book. On the mounts, Gardner acknowledged who made the negative and who made the print, a novel concept at the time. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 01/2006Exhibition History"Civil War Photographs from the David L. Hack Collection and Civil War Redux: Pinhole Photographs by Willie Anne Wright," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, February 3 - October 29, 2006; Cape Fear Museum, Wilmington, NC, February 15 - May 28, 2007; Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV, July 26 - September 21, 2008
Elisabeth Hase
