Fort Sumter – Gettysburg Samuel Wylie Crawford 

Description

Fort Sumter – Gettysburg 
Samuel Wylie Crawford 

 

Large-format albumen photograph by George Smith Cook, Charleston, South Carolina, depicting Union officers including Samuel Wylie Crawford, one of the most uniquely placed figures of the American Civil War.

 

Crawford was serving as a U.S. Army surgeon at Fort Sumter during the opening bombardment in April 1861. He later transferred to line command, rising to the rank of brigadier general and commanding a division of the Pennsylvania Reserves at the Battle of Gettysburg, where his troops played a critical role on the Union left near Little Round Top. Few officers can claim direct association with both the first shots of the war and one of its most decisive battles.

 

This photograph was produced by George S. Cook, the preeminent Charleston photographer of the period and a key visual chronicler of the early war in the South. Cook is especially noted for his Fort Sumter imagery and officer portraiture, making this an exceptional Southern-produced, early-war image tied to a major Union figure.

 

An outstanding and highly desirable Civil War photograph linking Fort Sumter and Gettysburg to the opening and defining moments of the conflict—through the career of one remarkable officer. 

 

Inventory Number: GET 546