Evacuation of Aquia Creek
June 1863
Medium
Albumen print, pl. 33 from the album "Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War, vol. 1" (1866)
Dimensions
Image/paper: 17.7 × 22.9 cm (7 × 9 1/16 in.); Album page: 31.2 × 44.7 cm (12 5/16 × 17 5/8 in.)
Classification
photograph
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
196399
Art Historical Context
Captured in June 1863 by photographer Timothy O'Sullivan,Evacuation of Aqu Creek* offers a stark, unflinching glimpse into American Civil War's gritty realities. O'Sullivan, a key figure wartime photography who worked with Mathew Brady and later Alexander Gardner, documented Union Army movements along Virginia's Aquia Creek, a vital route near Fredericksburg. This albumen print, plate 33 Gardner's landmark 1866 publication *Photographic Sketch Book of the, Volume 1*, depicts soldiers and wagons retreating amid the chaos of military withdrawal, likely during campaigns leading to Gettysburg. Th...
About the Artist
Timothy O'Sullivan · 1840–1882
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840–1882) emerged as one of America's pioneering photographers during a transformative era. His early life remains sparsely documented, with records suggesting he was born either in New York City or Ireland before immigrating young, possibly growing up on Staten Island. As a teenager, he apprenticed under Mathew Brady at his Fulton Street gallery in New York, mastering w...