2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Co. F. photographs

The photographs in this collection are believed to have been taken by famed Civil War photographer Matthew Brady and depict members of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Company F, six weeks after the volunteers had joined up on June 5-6, 1861, and only two or three days prior to the First Battle of Bull Run. The setting is not far from the site of the upcoming battle in Manassas, VA. Some of the men pictured here would meet their ends in this battle and so these images represent the last days of their lives. A letter from Corporal Francis Ronan (also spelled Ronian, Ronien, Ronain, and Romain) of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry to his brother Henry, written on July 15, 1861, seems to confirm Brady as the photographer. This letter has been catalogued and digitized by the George Mason University Libraries Special Collections Research Center.

Company F of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry was accepted into state service at Pawtucket, Valley Falls, and Central Falls, Providence County, Rhode Island, on 7 May, 1861. Ensign L.A. Tower, 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia, Company E, resigned from his initial post and was appointed captain of 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Company F, on 1 June, 1861. The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as the First Battle of Manassas, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. Fought on July 21, 1861 in Virginia, the battle was ultimately won by the Confederates, led by General Pierre G.T. Beauregard. Union forces, led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, attempted numerous tactics to overtake the Confederates, but to no avail. Captain L.A. Tower was killed at the first battle of Bull Run, and First Lieutenant G.W. Weeden, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Company G, was appointed the new captain of Company F the following day on 22 July, 1861. Defeated, the Union army left Manassas for Washington, D.C., which led many to conclude that the war they were fighting was far from over.

Mathew Brady (c.1823-1896), was a 19th-century American photographer who was celebrated for his portraits of politicians and his photographs of the American Civil War. He was one of the earliest photographers in American history and is often considered the father of photojournalism.