Pass in the Raccoon Range, Whiteside No. 1

Art Historical Context

Step into the rugged heart of the American Civil War with *Pass in the Racco Range, Whiteside No 1*, a striking 1864 albumen print by George N Barnard. This image, plate 6 from Barnard's seminal 1866 album *Photographic Views the Sherman Campaign*, captures dramatic narrow pass in Georgia's Raccoon Mountain range—a key geographical feature during Union General William T. Sherman's push toward Atlanta. Barnard's lens frames the steep, shadowed cliffs and winding road, evoking the perilous terrain that challenged advancing troops. As an official photographer for Sherman's army, Barnard documented the campaign's landscapes, bridges, and scars of conflict, offering rare visual records from the front lines. Produced just after the war's pivotal Atlanta Campaign, this photograph underscores the strategic importance of the Raccoon Range near Lookout Mountain, where Union forces maneuvered in late 1863–64 to outflank Confederate defenses. His work humanizes the war's vast scale, blending artistry with history. Crafted as an albumen silver print—a 19th-century process using egg-white-coated paper for luminous detail and rich tonal depth—this 10 x 14-inch image exemplifies early war photography's technical innovation. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Photography and Media department, it invites visitors to ponder the endurance required to conquer such wild passes, forever preserving Sherman's audacious march.

About the Artist

George N. Barnard · 1819–present

George N. Barnard (1819–1902) was a pioneering American photographer whose six-decade career spanned the dawn of the medium, from daguerreotypes to Civil War documentation. Born into a farming family in Coventry, Connecticut, on December 23, 1819, he lost his father at age seven and apprenticed in family businesses before marrying in 1843 and relocating to Oswego, New York. There, he launched one ...