An Unidentified Boy Holds An Image of a Confederate Soldier

In this hand-colored ambrotype an unidentified boy holds a cased photograph of a Confederate soldier—presumably his father or another loved one—atop a Bible. The Richmond photographer Charles R. Rees (whose name is visible at the edge of the chair) made this image during the Civil War. The composition of the photograph suggests that the soldier had been either away from home fighting or killed in battle. This image is part of the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress.