Item No. 2285933

A 3 1/4” x 4” unmounted albumen print of a May 1864 view produced by photographer Andrew J. Russell. It shows white and black engineer troops along the upper wharf at Belle Plain, Virginia. Utilizing a pontoon bridge, the wharf connected supply ships in the Potomac River to the important Union supply base east of Fredericksburg. In the image, several men look toward the camera. One engineer standing on the bridge appears to be holding a tool. A number of Black pontoniers and stevedores can also be seen. The image was produced by Russell at about the same time as a more well known angle, the print for which is in the Library of Congress (link here). Note the coats and hat draped over the branches in the foreground, which are identical in both images.