Among the most iconic photographs of the Civil War era, this exceedingly scarce pair of carte de visite photographs present the subject, a young African American teenager, first in the tattered clothes of an escaped slave, and then in the uniform of a Union drummer boy. Each portrait features a simple, yet perfectly-stated period inscription directly under the mounted photograph: “As He Was,” and “As He Is.” Written in period pencil on the verso of the “before” image is the following: “Taken By O.F. Douglas Post Band Port Hudson La.”

This remarkable set of images fully captured the American public’s attention in Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary, “The Civil War,” when they were used to illustrate the redemption and transformation of the enslaved. In his film, Burns described the young man as “Contraband Jackson / Servant in Confederate Army” and, later, “Drummer Jackson / 79th USCT.” In other resources, he is named as “Taylor.”

For decades, this enslaved boy-turned-drummer’s name remained elusive, despite careful scholarship. The images offered here are particularly exciting because the inscription on the “before” view: “Taken By O.F. Douglas Post Band Port Hudson La,” finally sheds clear light on the subject’s true identification. Of all of the musicians of the 78th and 79th USCT, there was but one Jackson or Taylor- a youth named Hamilton Taylor.

Records indicate Taylor was a 14-year-old laborer from Liberty, Louisiana. "Laborer" was a term commonly used by Union officers to describe runaway slaves. Taylor stood just under five feet tall, with a black complexion, black eyes, and light hair. Records show he enlisted as a drummer at none other than Port Hudson, Louisiana on July 6, 1864, putting him in the exact location where these pictures were unquestionably made. There are no other potential matches in either regiment. But who was Douglas, the photographer?

Interestingly, he was also a soldier.

Oscar F. Douglas was just a teenager when the Civil War began. A resident of Fall River, Massachusetts, his occupation was listed as “photographer” in an 1861 city directory. The young Douglas enlisted in the 4th Rhode Island Infantry as a musician and served with the regiment for nearly a year before mustering out in October of 1862. Roughly one year later, duty called again, and he enlisted in the Corps D’Afrique Brigade Band Number 2. This unusual assignment sent him to Port Hudson, Louisiana, where he worked among the many members of the United States Colored Troops stationed there. When the War ended in 1865, he opened a photo studio in Providence, Rhode Island with another band member, a man named Francis Sandra. How Douglas got access to camera equipment at Port Hudson is open to speculation, but there can be no doubt that he had the skill to make these pictures, and did so.

There is precedent among Civil War photographers to create redemption narratives through a series of images. Photographs of formerly enslaved men, first looking miserable in filthy clothes, and then looking proud in Union blue, were powerful tools used to persuade a Northern public who at times struggled to accept the capability of freed slaves to competently fight in the war.

Photographic artists tried to underscore the humanity and dignity of those who had been enslaved, and to demonstrate their capacity for transformation and contribution to the Union cause. By capturing the journey of individuals like Hamilton Taylor, from the dehumanizing conditions of slavery to the honorable service in the Union Army, photographers like Oscar F. Douglas played a crucial role in shaping public perception and advancing the cause of emancipation.

Neither Douglas nor Taylor likely realized that what they accomplished together on the day and that these photographs would reverberate some 165 years later as singular examples of the struggle for freedom.