Taylor & Huntington 1864, June (taken) 783. Execution of a Colored Soldier [The War for the Union. Photographic War History.]
Stereocard The Jeffrey Kraus Collection In the month of June, 1864, a colored soldier in the Union army in front of Petersburg, attempted to commit a rape on a white woman whose house chanced to be within our lines; the woman's husband was absent from home, serving in the Rebel army. This colored soldier, named Johnson, was caught, tried by court martial, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. A request was made of the Rebels, under a flag of truce, that we might be permitted to hang Johnson in plain sight of both armies, between the lines. The request was granted and this is a photograph of him hanging where both armies can plainly see him.
