Gallery: Gender Roles
Charles Kantrener & Wife
This photograph of Charles Kantrener and his wife was taken in St. Louis in 1865. Kantrener was born circa 1836 in Wurtemburg, Germany, and came to the United States before 1858. He enlisted in the 1st U.S. Infantry that year as a private; he was promoted to sergeant and fought in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861. Kantrener mustered out of the Regular Army in 1863 and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry in June 1864. He was promoted to captain in March 1865 and led his company in the last major engagement of the war at Palmito Ranch, Texas, on May 12-13, 1865. The regiment was mustered out of service on March 31, 1866.
This photograph is a “carte de visite” or CDV, a French term for visiting or calling card; CDVs were popular during the Civil War because they were small in size and easy to carry or to mail to families.
The start of the Civil War in April 1861 provided an unprecedented and historic opportunity for American photographers, both to make a profit from a steady supply of willing customers, but also to document the most important event in American history. Although most Americans had probably been photographed at least once by 1861, either alone, with a spouse or as part of a family group, the war demanded that the men who marched off to fight be photographed. Unlike today, there was no military requirement in either the Union or Confederate service that a warrior have his photograph taken. But like today, those going to serve wished simply to preserve their legacy for family and friends.
Such photographs could be taken in a variety of places, including at local studios when soldiers were home on leave, when they were camped near their homes, or even in the field. Photographers would set up studios near large military encampments for the purpose of taking and selling photographs.
Large cities were also a logical place to have a photograph taken. The arrival of thousands of Union troops in St. Louis throughout the war, for instance, provided a steady stream of soldier subjects for the city’s photographers, both in camps like Benton Barracks and in the downtown studios.
It is important to remember that family members left at home also sat for portraits, so that soldiers going off to war would have a reminder of what they were fighting for.
Image Courtesy Private Collection
