Union field photographers
Philip Haas
A German-born lithographer who became a daguerreotypist in Washington, enlisted in his fifties, and photographed the Federal siege of Charleston from Morris Island in 1863 in partnership with Washington Peale.
Haas was born in Germany about 1808 and emigrated to America in 1834. He set up a lithography firm in Washington, where he made likenesses of President Martin Van Buren and of senators and congressmen; the New-York Historical Society’s dictionary of artists records him as a lithographer and publisher at Washington between 1837 and 1845, producing technical prints, portraits and views of the capital and Mount Vernon.
When the daguerreotype arrived he took it up, photographing Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun among others, and worked from a long succession of Broadway addresses in New York through the 1840s and 1850s.
He was over fifty when the war came. He lied about his age, enlisted in September 1862, and was then hired by the army to photograph fortifications and facilities.
The Charleston connection
The Library of Congress states the Charleston connection plainly: Philip Haas of Company A, 1st New York Engineers, and Washington Peale photographed General Quincy A. Gillmore’s efforts to capture Charleston in 1863, and the negatives show Union troops on the islands off the Carolina coast.
The pair set up studios on Morris Island and at Hilton Head and made several dozen views of ships, batteries and works, Fort Sumter among them. Their album of the campaign is at the Library of Congress.
War service and standing
Enlisted September 1862; Company A, 1st New York Engineers; subsequently employed by the army as a photographer of fortifications and installations. One collection guide styles him Lieutenant Philip Haas; this section has not verified a commission.
Process and equipment
Wet collodion in a siege line. The Morris Island negatives are glass, and the photographs were made within a mile or two of Confederate guns; the darkroom went with the camera or there were no pictures.
Attribution
Work from 1863 is credited to Haas & Peale, not to either man, and this section keeps it that way: nothing separates their hands.
Career
- about 1808Born in Germany. Davis & Melton 2020
- 1834Emigrates to America. Davis & Melton 2020
- 1837–1845Lithographer and publisher in Washington. Pioneer American Photographers, 1839–1860
- 1843Advertising daguerreotype likenesses at the eastern end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington. Pioneer American Photographers, 1839–1860
- September 1862Enlists in the Union army. Davis & Melton 2020
- 1863Photographs the Charleston campaign from Morris Island with Washington Peale. Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives Library of Congress
- 1966The Library of Congress acquires the partnership’s original glass negatives. Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives
Do not confuse with
- David Haas — Another photographer of the name in the same period.
Working locations
- Haas & Peale’s Morris Island studioMorris Island · 1863–1863Located to an island
- Haas & Peale’s Hilton Head studioHilton Head · 1862–1863Located to an island
Where the work is
- Library of Congress The original Haas & Peale glass plate negatives, acquired 1966, and LOT 4196, the Morris Island album.
See also
Washington Peale George Smith Cook
Statement by statement
Every material claim on this page, with its standing and its source. A statement the record does not support is shown as unavailable rather than filled in.
- AttributedBorn in Germany about 1808; emigrated in 1834.Davis & Melton 2020
- VerifiedLithographer and publisher in Washington between 1837 and 1845.Pioneer American Photographers, 1839–1860
- VerifiedEnlisted in September 1862 and was then employed by the army as a photographer.Davis & Melton 2020
- VerifiedServed in Company A, 1st New York Engineers.Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives
- UnverifiedHeld a lieutenant’s commission.no source
- Information unavailableDeath date and place.no source
Sources
- Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/
- “Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints: Background and Scope of the Collection,” Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/background.html
- Stephen Davis and Jack W. Melton Jr., 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Charleston in the War (Charleston: Historical Publications LLC, 2020).
- Pioneer American Photographers, 1839–1860 — a compilation of period advertisements, directory entries and registry records, with each entry citing the periodical or directory it came from. https://pioneeramericanphotographers.com/