The Photograph That Started It All

Every story has a beginning, and for Captured Freedom, it was a single photograph shared with me in 2022 by a descendant of one of the men it depicted.

Taken on January 2, 1865, the image showed twelve figures — nine Union officers and soldiers who had escaped Confederate imprisonment, and three mountain guides who risked everything to help them.

The soldiers had endured brutal conditions, walking nearly 300 miles through the winter wilderness to reach Union lines. One of their guides was just fourteen years old. Some of these men had been prisoners since 1863, surviving years of hardship before this moment of liberation was captured.

At the time the photograph was taken, they had been free for less than 24 hours.

Not knowing anything about the twelve men — no names, no confirmed identities — sent me on an unexpected journey of discovery that eventually became Captured Freedom.

The title itself carries a double meaning: "Captured," reflecting both their time as prisoners and the photographer's act of preserving their moment of freedom, and "Freedom," representing the life-changing moment they stepped back into liberty after years of captivity.

Researching and writing this story became a personal mission: to give faces, names, and voices back to those who had once been forgotten.

I'm honored to share their story with you — and grateful to the families who kept these memories alive long enough to be rediscovered.