Levy & Cohen's views of the rebel capital and its environs contains 26 photographs of historically significant monuments, locations, and structures in Richmond, Virginia, in 1865 after the conclusion of the Civil War.
Most images include typewritten titles and copyright statements as well as captions on their versos which outline the subject's historical significance and relation to the Civil War. Some photographs show duplicate views and/or have repetition of content in their verso descriptions. There is one photograph that measures 17 x 14 cm, ten that measure 13.5 x 19 cm, while the remaining fifteen photos are of standard carte de visite size.
Specific monuments that are represented in this collection include the Tomb of James Monroe in Hollywood Cemetery and Thomas Crawford’s Virginia Washington Monument shown prior to its completion. Specific structures represented include the Virginia Executive Mansion, ruins of Richmond Arsenal (Virginia Manufactory of Arms), ruins of Gallego Flour Mills, Treasury building (Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse), Virginia State Capitol building, Virginia State Penitentiary, and Chimborazo Hospital. Other images show scenes of a burnt district, Capitol Square, a shipyard, Drury’s Bluff, Rocket’s Landing, James River, and what remains of Petersburg Railroad Bridge. One particularly noteworthy image is titled “Portico of Executive Mansion,” which shows Governor Francis Harrison Pierpont “in company with Messrs. W. W. Weng, Treasurer of Virginia, W. D. Massey, P. M. of Alexandria, Va., and Colonel Hart of the Governor’s staff." Another image shows Union soldiers outside of their tents with a handwritten notation on the verso stating “Headquarters of First Penna Reserve Artillery, Lt. Col. Brady, Richmond Va. June 1865.”
Richmond, Virginia, served as the capitol of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865 during the Civil War. It was a strategic location in terms of railroad transportation and weapons supplies. In early April with the fall of Petersburg, Virginia, to General Grant being imminent, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet decided to abandon the city on April 2, 1865. This day is known as “Evacuation Sunday.” Prior to evacuation, retreating Confederate soldiers were ordered to set fire to supply warehouses, bridges, and the armory, but the fire spread and decimated entire districts.
Jewish-American photographers Leon Solis-Cohen (1840-1884) and Cornelius Levy (1842-1865) operated a photography studio together in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the corner of 9th and Filbert St. during the early 1860s. In the summer of 1865, they traveled to post-Civil War Richmond to document the “Rebel capital” and its destruction. Their partnership ended later that same year after Levy’s untimely death on September 26 1865 at the age of 23.
