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Nathaniel Prentice Banks

Nathaniel Prentice Banks
Attribution
Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894
Sitter
Nathaniel Prentice Banks, 30 Jan 1816 - 01 Sep 1894
Date
c. 1860
Type
Photographic Negative
Medium
Glass plate collodion negative
Dimensions
Plate: 9 × 5.7 × 0.2 cm (3 9/16 × 2 1/4 × 1/16")
Topic
Home Furnishings\Drape
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
Interior\Studio
Costume\Dress Accessory\Glove
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Top hat
Architecture\Column
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
Architecture\Pedestal
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Male
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Massachusetts
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\Governor\Massachusetts
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\General
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Speaker of the House
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Business executive\Railroad executive
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Civil War\Union Army
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\State Legislator\Massachusetts
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick Hill Meserve Collection
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.81.M372
Exhibition Label
Born Waltham, Massachusetts
Former state legislator, congressman, and governor Nathaniel P. Banks lacked military experience, but this did not prevent his appointment as major general of volunteers following the fall of Fort Sumter in 1861. Though Banks performed courageously in battle, he fell short as an effective field commander, and his troops sustained heavy losses at Winchester and Cedar Mountain, Virginia, in the summer of 1862. He was relieved of his command and reassigned in November as commander of the Army of the Gulf, headquartered in New Orleans.
Mary Banks joined her husband there, where she supported him by staging glittering parties to benefit Union troops and their families and by organizing grand celebrations to mark Union victories. In 1863, Banks’s forces captured the Confederate stronghold at Port Hudson but suffered massive casualties. A disastrous defeat in the ill-conceived Red River Expedition, which was meant to establish a Union foothold in Texas, cost Banks his final command.
Nacido en Waltham, Massachusetts
El antiguo legislador estatal, congresista y gobernador Nathaniel P. Banks carecía de experiencia militar; sin embargo, aquello no evitó que fuera nombrado teniente general de los voluntarios tras la caída de Fort Sumter en 1861. Aunque Banks luchó con coraje en el campo de batalla, su desempeño como comandante de campo fue deficiente y sus tropas sufrieron grandes pérdidas en Winchester y Cedar Mountain, Virginia, en el verano de 1862. Fue relevado de su comando y reasignado en noviembre como comandante del Ejército del Golfo, cuyo cuartel general se encontraba en Nueva Orleans.
Mary Banks se reunió allí con su esposo, donde lo apoyó montando relucientes fiestas en beneficio de las tropas de la Unión y sus familias, así como organizando grandes celebraciones para marcar las victorias unionistas. En 1863, las fuerzas de Banks capturaron el fuerte confederado de Port Hudson, pero sufrieron cuantiosas bajas. Una desastrosa derrota en la mal planeada expedición Río Rojo, que tenía por objetivo establecer la posición de la Unión en Texas, le costó a Banks su último comando.
Collection Description
The Frederick Hill Meserve Collection comprises more than five thousand Civil War-era portrait negatives from the Mathew Brady photography studio in New York City. The collection, which the National Portrait Gallery acquired in 1981, includes portraits of generals, politicians, diplomats, painters, and performers. It also contains depictions of “Human Curiosities” at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York City, that, although highly exploitative, help to document the historical representations of disability in the United States.
La Colección Frederick Hill Meserve contiene más de 5,000 negativos de retratos de la época de la Guerra Civil provenientes del estudio fotográfico de Mathew Brady en la ciudad de Nueva York. Adquirida por la National Portrait Gallery en 1981, la colección incluye retratos de militares, políticos, diplomáticos y artistas. También contiene imágenes de “curiosidades humanas” exhibidas en el American Museum de P.T. Barnum en Nueva York. Estas últimas, a pesar de su índole degradante, nos ayudan a documentar la representación histórica de las personas discapacitadas en EE.UU.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view