Bivouac+of+the+45th+Illinois+near+the+Shirley+House,+Vicksburg,+Mississippi

Date: 1863
 * [[image:https://s3.amazonaws.com/saam.media/files/styles/x_large/s3/images/1994/1994.91.49_1a.jpg?itok=xy548OPC width="299" height="242" link="@https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/bivouac-of-the-45th-illinois-near-the-shirley-house-vicksburg-mississippi-34211"]] || Title: **Bivouac of the 45th Illinois near the Shirley House, Vicksburg, Mississippi**

Artist: **O. D. Finch** Born: ? Died: ?

Medium: salted paper print mounted on paperboard Dimensions: sheet and image: 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (16.5 x 21.6 cm.) irregular Smithsonian American Art Museum Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment

Accession: 1994.91.49 || During the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Shirley House, residence of Unionist "Judge" James Shirley and his family, was caught in the crossfire of Union troops led by Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate troops under John C. Pemberton. Surrendering to Union forces, the family was removed from their home to protect them from cannon fire and housed in a manmade cave, like the ones (called sheebangs) in this photograph. The siege ended after six weeks when Pemberton, who was responsible for the city's residents and more than 200,000 Confederate soldiers (many ill with disease and starvation), surrendered Vicksburg to the Union Army. The Union thereby gained complete control of the Mississippi River. The Shirleys retained their estate until 1902, when it was given to the National Park Service and became the Vicksburg National Military Park.
 * Exhibition Label: **

The photographer O. D. Finch has drifted into obscurity. Although this work brings to light the living conditions of soldiers, it raises technical questions regarding methods of photography during the Civil War. As a salt print, this image represents one of the earliest photographic technologies. It soon fell out of favor as more advanced techniques were invented. It is possible that during the blockade Finch lacked access to the supplies needed for the more conventional silver print preferred by his contemporaries. Judging by the poor state of the encampment, this photograph was probably taken toward the end of the long siege.


 * Suggested Questions: **
 * Whose house do you think this is?
 * What's happened to the landscape/yard?

Civil War Photography
 * Resources: **

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