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Ruins of Gallego Flour Mills, Richmond

Alexander Gardner American, Scottish
Former Attribution Formerly attributed to Mathew B. Brady American, born Ireland
1865
Not on view
In 1861, at the outset of the Civil War, the Confederate government moved its capital from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia, to be closer to the front and to protect Richmond’s ironworks and flour mills. On April 2, 1865, as the Union army advanced on Richmond, General Robert E. Lee gave the orders to evacuate the city. A massive fire broke out the following day, the result of a Confederate attempt to destroy anything that could be of use to the invading Union army. In addition to consuming twenty square blocks, including nearly every building in Richmond’s commercial district, it destroyed the massive Gallego Flour Mills, situated on the James River and seen here. Alexander Gardner, Mathew B. Brady’s former gallery manager, then his rival, made numerous photographs of the "Burnt District" as well as this dramatic panorama from two glass negatives. The charred remains have become over time an iconic image of the fall of the Confederacy and the utter devastation of war.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ruins of Gallego Flour Mills, Richmond
  • Artist: Alexander Gardner (American, Glasgow, Scotland 1821–1882 Washington, D.C.)
  • Former Attribution: Formerly attributed to Mathew B. Brady (American, born Ireland, 1823?–1896 New York)
  • Date: 1865
  • Medium: Albumen silver prints from glass negatives
  • Dimensions: 16.3 x 36.9 cm (6 7/16 x 14 1/2 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
  • Object Number: 33.65.11, .226
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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[Views of the American Civil War]
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1861–65
Mrs. Greenhow and Daughter, Imprisoned in the Old Capitol, Washington, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Mrs. Greenhow and Daughter, Imprisoned in the Old Capitol, Washington
Alexander Gardner
1862
Naval Blockade, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Naval Blockade
Alexander Gardner
1865
Indians with Government Agents, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Indians with Government Agents
Alexander Gardner
early 1860s
Queen Emma of Hawaii and Her Entourage, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Queen Emma of Hawaii and Her Entourage
Alexander Gardner
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