African Americana

3 x 2 5/16 in. albumen photograph on 8 5/8 x 5 1/2 in. paper mount (corners clipped, closed tear near upper edge). Pencil inscription to lower corner of mount reads, "Louisiana." Includes modern enlargements of the image. 

A group portrait of General Slaughter (1827-1901) with uniformed staff, including 4 Black men. 

General James Edwin Slaughter (1827-1901) was born into a family descended from the First Families of Virginia on both sides, with generations farming plantations and using enslaved labor. He was educated at the Virginia Military Institute for one year and resigned on 6 July 1846 to accept a commission as a 2nd lieutenant to fight in the Mexican-American War. He transferred to the US 1st Artillery Regiment in June 1848 after the war's conclusion where he served until 1861 when he defected and joined the Confederate Army. He was the Inspector-General on the staff of General P.G.T. Beauregard who later recommended Slaughter for promotion to brigadier general which was granted on 8 March 1862. He saw action at Shiloh and was transferred to Galveston, Texas in April 1863 where he spent much of the war playing an important role in Confederate affairs in Texas. After the war, he fled to Mexico before returning to Mobile, AL, and later New Orleans.