First Lieutenant Charles Hill, carte-de-visite, by Mathew Brady, New York, c.1860s
Charles Hill served with the 10th New York Volunteers. On April 30, 1861, the nineteen-year-old, Hill was mustered in as a second lieutenant with Company G, for a service of two years. On November 21, 1861, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and also served as quartermaster, which meant he was responsible for distributing provisions. He was mustered out of service on May 7, 1863, in New York City, with his regiment.
The Mathew Brady Collection is comprised of approximately 366 items dating from 1851 to 1921 in various formats including cartes-de-visite, cabinet photographs, imperial prints, silver gelatin prints, ambrotypes, albumen prints, stereoscopic photographs, wet collodion glass negatives, albums, models, newspaper clippings and paper. The materials are arranged according to format, and within format by maker. The wet collodion glass negatives are also arranged according to size. The majority of the items consist of military and civilian portraits taken by Mathew Brady himself or by one of the photographers from Brady's studio. Subjects for the collection include the American Civil War, U.S. Presidents, U.S. Heads of State, U.S. military personnel, notable personalities and general portraiture.
Highlights of the collection include portraits of President Abraham Lincoln, General Ulysses S. Grant, General Robert E. Lee, General George Armstrong Custer, Southern Confederacy President Jefferson Davis, President Andrew Johnson, General William T. Sherman, Samuel F. B. Morse, Mathew Brady, Henry Ward Beecher and Edgar Allan Poe. Also of note is a double-sided ambrotype taken by Mathew Brady.
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