White House Landing, Pamunkey River
Medium
Albumen silver print
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. A. Hyatt Mayor, 1981
Accession Number
1981.1158.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Captured in 1864 amid the American Civil War, *White House Landing, Pamunkey River* offers a poignant glimpse into the Union's logistical backbone. Photographed at a vital supply depot on the Pamun River in Virginia, the image depicts steamboats laden with provisions docked along the shore, supporting General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate forces. This strategic riverside hub buzzed with activity, ferrying troops, ammunition, and rations essential for the grueling Peninsula operations. Timothy H. O'Sullivan, working under the famed Mathew B. Brady Studio, masterfully...
About the Artist
Timothy H. O'Sullivan|Mathew B. Brady · 1840–present
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840–1882) was a pioneering American photographer whose unflinching lens captured the raw devastation of the Civil War and the sublime vastness of the untamed West. Born in New York City—or possibly Ireland, with his family migrating soon after—his early life remains sparsely documented. As a teenager, he apprenticed under Mathew Brady at the famed daguerreotype studio on...