Loose CDV album page containing an original Civil War period CDV of Confederate Captain Thomas Witt Haynes of the 9th Virginia Cavalry and his African American servant. Haynes was paralyzed during a heated skirmish with Meade's army in the fall of 1863 and spent the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair.

Haynes, a man of social stature descended from Revolutionary War stock, was the valedictorian of the University of Virginia's Class of 1850. He was working as a lawyer when the Civil War began but quickly traded his pen for a sword when Virginia seceded. He enlisted in Company H of the 9th Virginia Cavalry, nicknamed the "Lee Rangers", and quickly rose to become their Captain.

A brave and respected soldier, he gained notoriety for leading a daring charge against the 8th Illinois Cavalry during the Antietam campaign. Always leading from the front, perhaps to a fault, he suffered his first gunshot wound at Upperville during the early days of the Gettysburg campaign. He served time as a prisoner of war at Johnsons' Island before returning to his command.

The 9th Virginia Cavalry had a prominent role in Meade's unsuccessful Bristoe campaign, and it was during days of constant scrapping with Yankee infantry that Haynes was shot again while leading a large skirmish line on the old Manassas battlefield. Initially presumed dead due to his paralysis, he survived and refused to retire from service. He served the remainder of his term in an administrative capacity in Richmond. Of the wound, his obituary states, "For more than thirteen years a helpless paralyzed, subject to almost incessant pain caused by a gunshot wound to the spine, received in battle, he bore the severest bodily suffering with heroic fortitude; rendering himself under the greatest disadvantage eminently useful in important public relations which he filled." He died in King William, Virginia in 1877 having served for many years as the county Treasurer.

Haynes is pictured here confined to his wheelchair, with his legs covered by a floral blanket. 

Standing next to Haynes is a tall African American man who casts a somewhat serious expression at the lens. Dressed plainly in workman's clothes, he rests one arm behind Haynes' wheelchair as if in control of its motion. The practice of employing an African American servant such as the man pictured here was a common practice for well-to-do Americans after the Civil War, particularly in the South. Certainly, the juxtaposition of the white man who sacrificed his body to preserve the Confederacy and the Black man he then relied on for basic self-care paints a powerful picture of the social structures of the post-War years. We know of no other example of this extraordinary photograph in existence. 

The image has been examined outside of the album page and remains in excellent condition. 

[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] [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Medical History, Medical Photography]