Rebel Cassion Destroyed by Federal Shells. At Fredericksburgh, May 3, 1863. Eight Horses Killed.

Andrew Joseph Russell American

Not on view

This photograph is as close to a spot-news battlefield view as was technically possible during the Civil War. Made just hours after a fierce fight above Fredericksburg, Virginia, the haunting picture shows the destruction by heavy artillery shell of a Confederate caisson (a two-wheeled vehicle for artillery ammunition) and its team of eight horses. On the afternoon the Union Sixth Corps captured Marye’s Heights (during the second battle of Fredericksburg), Andrew Joseph Russell crossed the Rappahannock River with his friend and superior officer General Herman Haupt, commander of the United States Military Railroad. Reconnoitering the field, they discovered this gruesome carnage blocking the road. Russell posed Haupt on the left and General William Wierman Wright, a civil engineer then in charge of the Union’s Aquia Creek & Fredericksburg Railroad, on the right. Both men survey the situation adding an apt note of contemplation to the already dramatic scene.

Rebel Cassion Destroyed by Federal Shells. At Fredericksburgh, May 3, 1863. Eight Horses Killed., Andrew Joseph Russell (American, 1830–1902), Albumen silver print from glass negative

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.