Tag: Browne (William F.)

Wikipedia says: William Frank Browne (?–1867) was born in Northfield, Vermont. At the outset of war, Browne enlisted in Company C of the 15th Vermont Infantry at Berlin, Vermont. After the end of his two-year enlistment, Brown began working as a freelance camp photographer for the 5th Michigan Cavalry, part of George A. Custer’s Michigan brigade. Browne wintered with them in their encampment at Stevensburg, Virginia while taking some of the earliest photographs of Brigadier General Custer. In 1864–65 Browne began doing contract work for Alexander Gardner. In May 1865, Maj. General Henry H. Abbot assigned Browne to photograph the James River water batteries around Richmond, Va., thus “preserving an invaluable record of their wonderful completeness.” After the war, Gardner published 120 of Browne’s negatives as “View of Confederate Water Batteries on the James River.” Browne returned to his native Northfield, Vermont, where he died of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1867.