Andrew J. Russell, photographer. Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia. Mammoth albumen, unmounted. N.p., n.d. 14 1/2 x 10 in. 

An outdoor view of Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia, located in the heart of the border territory between Confederate Virginia and the Union. Here we see a scattering of Union soldiers in the rutted street, some armed and clearly on picket duty.

From the very start of the war, both armies were encamped nearby with skirmishes and minor engagements throughout the summer of 1861. After the Confederates withdrew from Munson's Hill, Upton's Hill, and Falls Church to Manassas, the Union took control of the area to control supply lines. Bailey's Crossroads was the site of a massive troop review on 20 November 1861 before President Lincoln. 

Andrew J. Russell (1829-1902) wasa young artist who became involved with the Union efforts at the outbreak of war, painting a patriotic diorama used for recruitment. He then joined up, volunteering as a Captain in Company F of the 141st New York Infantry. Showing an interest and aptitude in photography, he hired civilian photographer Egbert Guy Fowx, who freelanced for both Mathew Brady and the US Department of War, to teach him the collodion wet-plate process. Colonel Herman Haupt arranged for Russell to photograph for the United States Military Railroad and the Quartermaster Corps throughout the duration of the war. After the conclusion of hostilities, he photographed the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, including the hammering of the Golden Spike in 1869. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards]