Photographed in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania

Home of the manufacturer of the famous Griffin artillery gun highly used during the Civil War

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Full standing view of handsome young Yankee private wearing a 9 button frock coat and kepi and posing with one hand resting on the top of a cushion backed studio chair with drape in the background. Back mark: Photographed by M.B. Yarnall, Phoenixville, Pa. Corners of the mount are very slightly trimmed. Very nice Civil War image.

Phoenixville, Pa. Trivia: A borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, located 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia, in the Delaware Valley, at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. The Phoenixville area was originally known as Manavon. On March 6, 1849, despite public opposition, Manavon was incorporated as a borough and was renamed Phoenixville. For much of its history, Phoenixville was known for being home to the Phoenix Iron Works, producing notable products such as the Griffin gun and the Phoenix column.

During the Revolutionary War, the British Army arrived in Manavon (now Phoenixville) on September 21, 1777, with 14,000 troops and Hessians. For the three days that they were in the area they ransacked every home and business in the area. During the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, the noise of the cannons could be heard in Manavon. Wounded American and British soldiers were brought to area churches, meeting houses, and taverns for treatment. In 1777, most of the local residents were either Quakers or Mennonites, whose religious principles prevented them from bearing arms. It is estimated that about 30 men from the Phoenixville area served in the Revolutionary Army.

The Griffin gun was a 3 inch ordnance rifle and 45 % of the artillery guns used at Gettysburg were Griffin guns which became known as the most accurate gun used during the Civil War. Between 1861-64, the Union army purchased some 1,400 of these guns from the Phoenix Iron Works. The Phoenixville area also supplied many Union troops during the Civil War.