Description
At center,, Union lieutenant Samuel K. Thompson of Co. C, 54th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment, poses next to a ten-inch Rodman cannon along with unidentified soldiers under his command. This tintype was probably taken at Fort Massachusetts on the Gulf Coast in Mississippi. This image is part of the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress. Pair of large tintypes of Lt. Samuel K. Thompson posing with men of his company of the 54th Connecticut Colored Troops (54th U.S. Colored Troops), in front of a large coastal type gun, probably a captured Columbiad. The images are taken from either side of the gun, showing Thompson and his men in relaxed poses. The gun is clearly not in use, as the grass has been allowed to grow around it. This was apparently made while the 54th Connecticut Colored Volunteers were on garrison duty in the Department of Arkansas. Thompson is shown in straw hat and white trousers with his sword. Soldiers are in a variety of relaxed poses. This is a rare image, both of this unit, and its mood. Most images of white officers and colored troops in this period are quite formal.
