New photography by Pat Cagney captured with a digital camera.

Encampment of Louisville Blues, Captain Bludworth, 1st Alabama Regiment, Near Light House, Pensacola, Florida

Artist Jay Dearborn Edwards (American, 1831-1900)

CultureAmerican

DateApril 1861

MediumAlbumen print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 7 3/8 × 10 in. (18.7 × 25.4 cm)
Overall: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 20 × 22 in. (50.8 × 55.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of David L. Hack and Museum purchase, with funds from Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., by exchange

Object number98.32.114

Collections

Photography

Not on view

DescriptionThe David L. Hack Civil War Photography Collection. This is a photograph of the Louisville Blues, first Alabama regiment. In the right side of the foreground there is a tent and a few men seated. The perspective of the main focus extends back to the left side with other men standing around, more tents, and a line of tree branches. This is from _Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War_ (Hack Collection No. 2].

Label TextJ.D. Edwards American (ca. 1831-d. 1900) Encampment of Louisville Blues, Captain Bludworth, 1st Alabama Regiment, Near Light House, Pensacola, Florida, April 1861 Salted paper print 98.32.114 Little is known about J.D. Edwards, although he left a sizable number of photographs taken during the early years of the Civil War. He was born in New Hampshire, and by 1860, he was working in New Orleans, making portraits and photographing government buildings under construction. Like other Southern photographers, his output declined as supplies became increasingly scarce as the war dragged on. When Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861, state officials ordered troops to seize key federal forts and arsenals throughout the state. Many troops from Louisiana were sent to support the effort, and Edwards appears to have been lured by this early military activity to start making photographs of the sites associated with the conflict in Florida, especially Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. He made many photographs in the encampments of the 1st Alabama and the 9th Mississippi Regiments, which were located near the lighthouse at Pensacola. Two of these were published in two issues of Harper's Weekly in June 1861, though neither was attributed to Edwards. 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