behind AotW

It’s a shame about the condition of this daguerrotype – but at least we can get a hint about what Dr. Robert T Royston looked like before the war. A physician of some 10 years experience, he enlisted in the 8th Alabama Infantry as a Private in May 1861, but quickly became the regiment’s Surgeon. He treated wounded soldiers on the field at Sharpsburg, at least until the Confederate Army returned to Virginia on the night 18 – 19 September 1862.

This item is in the collection of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, who shared it online.