Prisoners of War, Fort Delaware, May, 1864. Full plate albumen. Philadelphia: J.L. Gihon, 1864. Title and photographer's imprint printed to mount recto. With original list of subjects, printed to mount recto, now detached. Handsomely framed together.

Wonderfully composed albumen photograph of Confederate prisoners-of-war taken by Philadelphia artist, John L. Gihon, at Fort Delaware in May of 1864. The captives are identified in Gihon’s key as follows: front row, left to right: Col. Joseph T. Tucker, Ky.; Capt. Hart Gibson, Ky; Brig Gen. Robert B. Vance, N.C.; Rev. Dr. I.W.K. Handy, Va.; Baily Peyton Key, Tenn, a 15 year-old orderly; Brig. Gen. Jeff Thompson, Mo.; Col. W.W. Ward, Tenn. Rear row, left to right: Capt H.H. Brodgen, Md., Confederate Secret Service; Lt. Lucius H. Smith, Ky; Lt. Jos. J. Andrews, Ala.; Col. Cicero Coleman, Ky.; Col. R.G. Morgan, Ky.; Capt Charlton H. Morgan, Ky.; Brig. Gen. Basil W. Duke, Ky.; and Lt. John A Tomlinson, Ky. 

Many of these men fought with Confederate cavalry legend John Hunt Morgan; indeed, two of Morgan's brothers and a brother-in-law (Duke) are among the pictured inmates. Interestingly, one of the men, Dr. I.W.K. Handy, was a minister who served Presbyterian congregations primarily in the Chesapeake Bay region. During the Civil War, the Union Army detained him at Fort Delaware for fifteen months for refusing to deny allegations that he made statements against the American flag. Other Gihon photographs from Fort Delaware feature Handy preaching to prisoners; he was credited with dozens of religious conversions of Confederate officers and his presence at the very center of this group may suggest a similar inspiration for this image.

Gihon had a studio in downtown Philadelphia but seemed drawn to expand his horizons. In 1863, he obtained permission from the Army to make photographs of Confederate prisoners held at Ft. Delaware, located on a small island in the Delaware River some 50 miles from his business. He returned several times to make images, eventually earning nearly total access to the facility. Handy himself wrote of Gihon’s work at the prison: “[He] has been allowed to visit 'the pen' and has been busy, to-day, taking sundry pictures, to help the Yankee pockets, and bring joy to many a 'rebel' heart at the South.”

While the men in Gihon’s photograph appear at first glance to be in good health, the reality of prisoner of war camp in the 1860s was far bleaker. The death rates hovered around 10% due to disease. Gihon was known to bring Confederate uniform components with him to lend to subjects who often had threadbare clothing.

An iconic, desirable photograph.

Currently the print's mount is archivally framed, but it can be easily matted and re-framed to suit the taste of its new owner.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, POWs, Prisoners of War, Morgan's Raid, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Albumens]