CIVIL WAR: SOUTH CAROLINA SEA ISLANDS.


Imperial albumen print photograph, 5 3/4 x 8 inches (145 x 202 mm) laid down to larger mount, of "Flower Garden--John E. Seabrook's Plantation,--Bird's Eye View," Edisto Islands, SC, April 7, 1862, image published by H.P. Moore of Concord, NH, "Kean Archives / Phila" stamp to verso, some fading to image, mount darkened with light spotting.UNION SOLDIERS AT CAPTURED PLANTATION. The Carolina Sea Islands were liberated in 1861, just after the onset of the Civil War. John Seabrook, a successful cotton farmer, built Seabrook House in 1810. In 1862, as this image confirms, the house and grounds were occupied by the Union Army as a provost and Headquarters for regiments from New York and Massachusetts. The image, taken from the roof of the house, shows the formerly well manicured gardens in disrepair, with soldiers and liberated slaves standing amid the encroaching scrub. One figure is identified with a pound sign. The manuscript note reads, "# Martin I James, Post. Adjt. leaning against sun dial, a little negro boy that he picked up and stood on sun dial."