Mar 01, 2012 - Sale 2271

Sale 2271 - Lot 400

Price Realized: $ 480
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 800
(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) PHOTOGRAPHY. G.A.R. Veteran Sailor with his ribbons plainly readable. Cabinet Card of a black Civil War veteran of the Navy (image size) 5-1/2 x 4 inches; sepia toned on a Boston photographer's mount; some damp-staining to the reverse of this photo, not showing on the image. Boston: Patton & Stratton, circa
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"Almost immediately after the end of the Civil War, veterans sought out occasions to gather together, to relive their shared experiences, find solace in their battle-forged bonds, to celebrate their heroic deeds, and commemorate the sacrifices of their fallen comrades. These reunions of regiments, corps, armies, and fraternal organizations - so important to the soldiers and their families - came eventually to serve as symbol of a wider national reunification, despite the vast majority of reunions remaining purely separate former Union or Confederate affairs." (Center for Civil War Research). From the apparent age of this navy veteran and the photograph itself, , we would hazard a guess at this being the Fifth National GAR Encampment reunion which took place in May of 1871 at Boston. A scarce image, only 19,000 African Americans served in the Union Navy.