Soldiers’ Lot

I have been photographing Civil War monuments around Brooklyn and in Green-Wood Cemetery for an upcoming exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library. On Saturday I focused on several areas of the cemetery with special attention to the field of Civil War gravestones at the feet of Our Drummer Boy, a small sculpture of 12 year old Clarence MacKenzie who was Brooklyn’s first fatality of the war. He was killed accidentally in camp by a stray bullet.

Our Drummer Boy

It’s interesting to compare this sculpture to the 9/11 fireman a couple of posts earlier. Both attempt to dignify their subjects, but succumb to kitsch. Nevertheless, they are arresting images of youthful innocence cut down by powerful outside forces. As one surveys the hill of stones, it’s Our Drummer Boy who stands out lending a face to a war of horrific slaughter.

Our Drummer Boy inscription

On the back of the plinth is the inscription: This young life was the first offering from King’s County in the war of the rebellion.

I did quite a few photographs with the view camera of Our Drummer Boy and the surrounding Civil War stones, none exactly like the pictures above which were made with my digital camera. It was a rare and beautiful August day–crisp and clear, temperature in the ’70s.