The Origins of the Image
The image printed in Harper’s was part of a triptych, in which the image of the scourged back, labelled in the article as “Gordon Under Inspection,” was flanked by two smaller images, labelled “Gordon as He Entered Our Lines” and “Gordon in His Uniform as a U.S. Soldier” (figure 1). The accompanying article, entitled “A Typical Negro,” indicates that the three images were based on photographs taken by McPherson and Oliver. The article names the subject as “Gordon,” a slave “who escaped from his master in Mississippi, and came into our lines at Baton Rouge in March last.” The article indicates that the scarring on his back was the result of whipping he had received the previous Christmas, and that he had escaped from slavery using onions to disguise his smell from dogs sent in pursuit. The article also mentions that Gordon had served at one point as a guide for Union troops in Louisiana and was captured by Confederate soldiers, who “tied him up and beat him, leaving him for dead,” but somehow survived and returned to Union lines.
Only a few elements in the Harper’s article can be independently verified. The photographers William D. McPherson and his partner Oliver were present in Baton Rouge at the time when the images were purportedly taken. Although several dozen of their photographs survive, comparatively little is known about the men themselves or their partnership. Some historians have argued that they were originally from Baton Rouge, while others claim that they arrived with the Union occupation in May 1862. The vast majority of their surviving photographs are exterior images of buildings, fortifications, cannons, Union ships, and groups of Union soldiers. Compared to their other surviving photographs, the images that later featured in Harper’s Weekly are unusual, as the studio apparently did little business in individual portraiture. Unlike most Civil War era photographers, McPherson and Oliver did not often create carte-de-visite for soldiers. The scourged back image is also unusual in that all of the copies purportedly taken by McPherson and Oliver lack a back marknaming the photo studio, a feature common in all of their other known images. Its absence should cause us to doubt whether McPherson and Oliver were responsible for the photo, and provides some indication that the narrative in “A Typical Negro” may not be entirely accurate.