Military Bridge, Across the Chickahominy, Virginia

About the Artwork

In this complex composition, David B. Woodbury merged the documentation of an event with his desire to record an impressive landscape. The image depicts a precarious, yet essential military log bridge that traverses a swamp created by the accumulated waters of the Chickahominy River, located southeast of Richmond, Virginia. Constructed under difficult physical conditions, the structure was later destroyed by floodwaters caused by heavy rains. The workers involved with the structure's construction are positioned in a single line so that each person is identifiable; however, reduced to diminutive size by the camera's distant viewpoint, the workers appear to be dominated by their natural environment. This image appeared in the first volume of a two-volume set of 100 Civil War photographs published between 1865–66 by Alexander Gardner (1821–1882), who printed the negatives and compiled the album, which included work by a number of other photographers.

Inscriptions

Written in pencil on recto: "23"

Provenance

(Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY) February 24, 1992: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).

Quick Overview

Artist: David B. Woodbury (American, 1866)
Date: 1862
Medium: albumen print, gold toned, from wet collodion negative
Dimensions: Image: 17.7 x 23 cm (6 15/16 x 9 1/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1991.283

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.