Union field photographers, Uncertain or disputed
Washington Peale
The junior name on one of the most important photographic partnerships of the Charleston campaign, and the one about whom least is known. Davis and Melton place him in Philadelphia and then Washington before the war, a painter like his father.
Davis and Melton describe Washington Peale as of Philadelphia, having moved to the capital before the war, and, like his father, a painter — one of the extended Peale family that supplied America with a good deal of its early portraiture.
Beyond that this section can add nothing verified. His dates, his exact relationship to the Philadelphia Peales, and the terms on which he worked with the army are all unestablished, and are left so rather than filled in from resemblance of name.
The Charleston connection
The Library of Congress names him with Haas as the photographer of Gillmore’s 1863 operations against Charleston. The partnership worked from Morris Island and Hilton Head and produced several dozen views of ships, batteries, works and camps.
War service and standing
Not established.
Attribution
Every plate is credited to the firm. No photograph is assigned to Peale alone by any institution consulted here.
Career
- before the warOf Philadelphia; moved to Washington; a painter. Davis & Melton 2020
- 1862–1863In partnership with Philip Haas on the South Carolina coast. Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives Davis & Melton 2020
Do not confuse with
- Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian and Franklin Peale — Members of the Philadelphia Peale family of painters and museum-keepers. A connection is plausible and is not documented here; the shared surname proves nothing.
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 Credited with Haas on the 1863 negatives.
See also
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.
- VerifiedPhotographed Gillmore’s 1863 Charleston operations in partnership with Philip Haas.Library of Congress, Civil War Glass Negatives
- AttributedOf Philadelphia, later Washington, and a painter like his father.Davis & Melton 2020
- Information unavailableBirth and death dates; relationship to the Philadelphia Peale family; the terms of his war employment.no source
Sources
- “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).
- Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/