First-Ever Combat Photograph?

What might be the first-ever picture taken of combat might have been taken at Dutch Gap Channel during the Civil War while it was being dug.

Two pictures were taken in a short time.

By the time the second was taken, smoke was evident and workers were scrambling on the dam.

An 1869 caption reads, "The mist arising against the bank is caused by a rebel shell, which exploded just as the view was being photographed."

You can see the two photographs yourself at
http://www.civilwarphotography.org/3d-17.html.

Never Heard of This Before. --B-R'er

Butler's Dredge Boat-- Part 1

Shorpy's pictures today had one of the wreck of the dredge boat being used by General Benjamin Butler to dig the Dutch Gap Canal to bypass Confederate batteries on the James River in 1864.

It was sunk by a Confederate shell on Thanksgiving Day, 1864. I was unable to find out its name.

One thing I like about Shorpy is where you can view the photograph full size, up close and personal. This way you an look for detail.

Across the James River from the wreck, on a bluff, is a Union lookout tower. Plus, you can see monitors in the river, perhaps as many as three, or perhaps two if one of them is a double turret. Two Union soldiers are standing by the wreck near shore on some wooden planks.

But, Wait, There's More. --B-R'er