[Headquarters 3rd Brigade Gen'l banks. Div.]. Outdoor albumen photograph. [Muddy Branch, Maryland], [31 October 1861]. Framed. Informational photocopy affixed to frame verso. 

An early war image of the Headquarters of Brigadier General Alpheus Williams, taken on 31 October 1861. Captured at a distance, a company is standing at attention to the left and a cluster of officers, with some on horseback, are visible throughout the composition, including Brig. General Alpheus Williams. Camp tents and a log cabin can be seen at the treeline behind the soldiers. 

The camp was formed early in the war for the Defenses of Washington, one of 69 forts that ringed the capital. The Third Brigade, Banks' Division of the Army of the Potomac, were stationed at the camp In the summer and fall of 1861 when this image was taken.

Several of the figures visible among the Sibley tents are identified, most notably Brig. General Alpheus Williams (1818-1878) at center, a brigadier general under Major General Banks.

Interestingly, a log cabin can be seen in the background. This was constructed by Colonel Fletcher Webster (1812-1862), son of Daniel Webster, who had been stationed at the camp earlier in 1861. 

Camp Muddy Branch would be occupied by a number of different Union regiments throughout the war. Several skirmishes occurred and it was eventually abandoned on 9 July 1864 to provide more support in Washington in the face of Jubal Early's attack on the capital. The deserted camp was burned by Colonel John S. Mosby and his rangers on 11 July 1864. 

Another copy of the image is found in MOLLUS vol. 114, p. 5874. More information about Camp Muddy Branch, its history, and its occupants, can be found in "History of the Camp at Blockhouse Point 18M0542" by Don Housely, Vivian Eicke, and Glenn Wallace (January 2019). 

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