Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. View of the landing showing numerous boats in the river, the wharf with supply wagons, and tents in the foreground. No imprint. This view was taken by Mathew Brady & Co., in June 1864, and is listed in Brady's catalog as view #8892. Very fine image. This would make a nice companion piece to go along with our item UL1933, an 1862 letter written by an officer of the 5th Maine Infantry from Belle Plain Landing, Va., only a week before the battle of Fredericksburg.

WBTS Trivia: While the fighting at Spotsylvania, Va. raged on, General U.S. Grant was building up his supplies for the overland campaign through his base at Belle Plain Landing, on the Potomac River. Early in the war this very strategic position had belonged to the Confederates, but now it was held by the Union, and it was a whirlwind of activity with steamers constantly bringing men and wagons ashore to the wharf to supply General Grant's army.