Getty Museum
Commodore Dead.
Creator
A. J. RussellAmerican Photographer · 1830–1902
All works by this person →Andrew Joseph Russell, a captain in the volunteer infantry, became a photographer during the American Civil War. As photographer-engineer for the United States Military Railroad Construction Corps, he was assigned to photograph battlefields and campsites in Virginia. He also photographed engineering projects and contributed images to what was probably the world's first technical manual illustrated
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- April 1864
- Medium
- Albumen silver print
- Culture
- American
- Department
- Photographs
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- a3e68d08-a5e7-4e61-90e6-a179428664ea
The wreck of the *Commodore,* seen here lying on its side like a toy thrown aside by a temperamental child, was one of innumerable Civil War disasters. Confederate forces regularly tore up railroad tracks in their efforts to impede the movements of the Union Army. To the left of the image, behind the derailed engine, a number of figures stand about, probably assessing the damage. The American Civil War holds the distinction of being the first war that was routinely photographed, but such record-keeping was not limited to documenting battlefields. Andrew Joseph Russell photographed many train wrecks and other war-related scenes.
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