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April 1865. "Richmond, Virginia. Libby Prison." The infamous Confederate jail. Composite of two stereograph wet plate glass negatives. View full size.
Thousands of Union officers were held here during the war, but when photographed in April 1865, the notorious prison was in Union hands, and the prisoners you see pressing their faces against the bars are Confederate officers getting a taste of their own medicine, among them the former commandant, Maj. Thomas P. Turner.
In April 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visited Richmond, Virginia and toured the city on foot. When he came across Libby Prison, a crowd of onlookers stated "We will tear it down", to which Lincoln replied, "No, leave it as a monument."
I think this is the earliest example of (relatively) modern technology I've seen on Shorpy -- an 1865 telegraph line.
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