Whitehall Street In Atlanta, 1864 Taken by George N. Barnard. During his time spent stationed there with general Sherman.The many ironies in this particular photo are astounding. The obvious one being the african american union soldier posted outside of the auction house. The not so obvious irony, being that General William Tecumseh Sherman was in control of Atlanta Georgia at this point. Why is this ironic? General Sherman was a known white supremacist and bigot, and he famously refused to employ the service of African American Troops. Even going so far as to issue a special field order--order number 16--forbidding recruitment officers from enlisting blacks employed by the government in any capacity. Given that this photo was taken in the fall of 1864 and the field order was given in June of 1864, Sherman either had a change of heart, or more likely, he found the Auction house to be the more suitable location for the black soldiers.