Mar 24, 2022 - Sale 2598

Sale 2598 - Lot 313

Price Realized: $ 4,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Portrait of Nick Biddle, said to be the first man wounded in the Civil War. Albumen photograph, 3 1/2 x 2 inches, on original photographer's mount with caption "Nick Biddle of Pottsville, Pa., the first man wounded in the Great American Rebellion, Baltimore, April 18, 1861"; corners and top edge cropped with minimal loss to photograph. Pottsville, PA, [1863]
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Additional Details

Nick Biddle (1796-1876) was born into slavery in Delaware, and after obtaining his freedom lived for many years in Pottsville, PA. There he became an unofficial member of the local militia company, as the personal servant of Captain James Wren (1825-1901). After the fall of Fort Sumter, the Pottsville men were one of one of 5 Pennsylvania militia companies summoned to provide emergency protection to the nation's capital, including the 65-year-old Biddle. Although not allowed to formally join the army because of his race, Biddle wore the company's uniform.

Passing through Baltimore on the way to Washington on 18 April, the 475 "First Defenders" were met by an angry mob of secessionists. Biddle, as a Black man in uniform, was the particular target of hostilities. A brick hit him in the head, sharply enough to expose the bone. The Baltimore police were barely able to protect the soldiers from the insurrectionists and get them on the train. In Washington, they were personally greeted by President Lincoln, who noticed Biddle's blood-soaked head bandage and encouraged him to get medical attention. Biddle instead stayed with his unit.

With the war underway, Biddle soon returned to Pottsville to recuperate, ineligible to serve formally in the Army because of both his age and race. This portrait was taken in November 1863 by Pottsville photographer W.R. Mortimer to raise funds for Biddle's support. The Lancaster Express on 23 November 1863 announced that a copy was sent to President Lincoln.

Biddle's claim to be the first man wounded in the war is dependent on whether you include the evacuation of Fort Sumter the previous week, when six men were badly wounded by a powder explosion during a final salute to the American flag--technically friendly fire. Several other Pennsylvania "First Defenders" were wounded alongside Biddle on 18 April, but he is generally given precedence as the first. The more famous death of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth in Alexandria, VA was more than a month later. Biddle was almost certainly the first Black man in uniform with the Union Army during the Civil War.