Peter (formerly identified as “Gordon”)

Source: Mathew Brady Studio. Peter, 1863. Photograph. National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Instituion)

Date: 1863

Text/Transcription:

In the spring of 1863, a self-emancipated man known only as Peter, who sought to enlist in a Black regiment, underwent a physical examination at a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Union Army encampment. The doctors discovered horrific scarring on his back – the result of a brutal whipping by his former overseer – and summoned two local photographers to document the abuse. The photographs circulated widely. One example, published in Harper’s Weekly, mistakenly identified the subject as “Gordon”.