March from Annapolis to Washington, Robert C. Rathbone, Sergeant Major, Seventh Regiment, New York Militia
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.The Seventh Regiment, New York Militia was among the first military groups to leave for Washington, D.C., after Lincoln’s call to arms in April 1861. In or near Annapolis, en route to the nation’s capital, Sergeant Major Rathbone posed for his portrait. He annotated his likeness with enough information to suggest that this image might be the first (identifiable) photograph of a soldier made after the fall of Fort Sumter. Representative of thousands of similar portraits, this study of an officer seen against a blank wall with just a hint of a studio column is typical of the simplicity of the earliest war pictures.
Artwork Details
- Title: March from Annapolis to Washington, Robert C. Rathbone, Sergeant Major, Seventh Regiment, New York Militia
- Artist: Unknown
- Date: April 24, 1861
- Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
- Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.4 cm (3 1/2 x 2 1/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Michael J. McAfee Collection
- Curatorial Department: Photographs