[Captain George Riggs Gaither of K Company, 1st Virginia Cavalry] [graphic]. [between 1861 and 1863]

ArchivalResource

Rees, Charles R.,. [Captain George Riggs Gaither of K Company, 1st Virginia Cavalry] [graphic].

[Captain George Riggs Gaither of K Company, 1st Virginia Cavalry] [graphic]. [between 1861 and 1863]

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/712497641

Photo shows identified soldier with arm resting on book at the base of a column; a table next to him holds his cap and a dish. Exhibit caption: George Riggs Gaither (1831-1899), whose ancestors founded Gaithersburg, Maryland, is the subject of this ambrotype by Richmond-based Charles R. Rees, one of the best Civil War era photographers in the South. As captain of a local militia unit, the Howard County Dragoons, Gaither led a group of landowners, many of whom owned slaves, and assisted with peacekeeping in Baltimore during riots in 1861. When pressed to swear allegiance to the United States, most refused, gathered their weapons, rode to Leesburg, Virginia, and joined the Confederate Army. Gaither was captured at Manassas Junction on August 27, 1862, later exchanged, and sent to Europe the next year on a mission for the Confederate government. Following the war, he became a cotton trader.

1 photograph : half-plate ambrotype, hand-colored ; 15.9 x 12.6 cm (case)

Library of Congress