(MILITARY CIVIL WAR) [McPherson Oliver; photographers] [Ou

Sale 2471 - Lot 271

Price Realized: $ 938

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800

(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) [McPherson & Oliver; photographers.] [Our Scouts and Guides in 1863 in Baton Rouge.] Albumen photograph, 3 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches, on original plain mount; worn and creased, mount remnant on verso, captioned on recto "Opelousas, Uncle Tom" and on verso "Slave Boys." [New Orleans, LA, 1863]

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Additional Details

These two ragged young contrabands were apparently guides for the Union siege troops in the Port Hudson campaign in 1863. They were more than likely part of the thousands liberated by General Benjamin Butler when his troops seized New Orleans from Confederate defenders. The contemporary caption here gives their nicknames, Opelousas and Uncle Tom, which don't seem to be recorded in other sources. The fuller caption is shown in Rosenheim, Photography and the Civil War, page 261. Another example hammered for $3600 in Swann's 31 March 2016 sale, lot 121.