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Frances Clalin Clayton

Samuel Masury American
1864–66
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Frances Clayton is an exception—a woman who served in the Union army by disguising herself as a man. In a popular carte de visite collected by soldiers at the end of the war, she poses here as Jack Williams and suggestively holds the handle of a cavalry sword between her crossed legs. The facts of her life story and military service are difficult to confirm, but it is believed that she served in the Missouri cavalry (or infantry) beside her husband, who died at the Battle of Stones River in late December 1862.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Frances Clalin Clayton
  • Artist: Samuel Masury (American, 1818–1874)
  • Date: 1864–66
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
  • Dimensions: Image: 9.4 x 5.6 cm (3 11/16 x 2 3/16 in.)
    Mount: 10.2 x 6.4 cm (4 x 2 1/2 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Buck Zaidel Collection
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs