I recently visited the Met to see the exhibit
"Photography and the American Civil War" and ended up liking it so much that I bought the gorgeous catalog by Jeff Rosenheim. Today, as I was flipping through the pages, I came across the below image of Alfred A. Stratton of Company G of the 147th New York Volunteers. I recognized him immediately.
He is certainly the same person as the
"Unidentified Soldier" pictured in this carte-de-visite in the Liljenquist Collection at the Library of Congress. The image in the LOC digital collection correctly identifies his company and regiment, but not his name.
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| CDV in Liljenquist Collection |
Poor Alfred didn't live very long after these photos were taken. He died at age 29, allegedly from complications from his injuries. Berry Craig has written a
biography of Stratton on the Orthotics and Prosthetics Business News website. There are actually quite a few photos of Stratton floating around, as he was photographed both for medical documentation and to help raise money to support himself after the war.
This is such a sad photo. He is dressed up with such magnificence but you can see the suffering in his eyes. It makes me think of Wilfred Owen's poem 'Disabled'- a young man whose life must have changed overnight. I have been listening to a wonderful series on Radio 4 called 'Disability: A New History' http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b021mdwt I hope you can hear it in the US, I think you would enjoy it.
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