Historians Wanted! Explanation Of This Belle Plain Landing Image, Please?

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
belle crowd on pontoon.JPG

Snip from an LoC image, " Belle Plain ", full image below.
crowd belle full image.jpg

It does look like Belle Plain BUT a ton of ' Landing ' images look similar. There's Acquia Creek, City point and a few others where pontoon/steamers/civilians are prominent. They all had more than one wharf, too- Belle began with ' upper ' and ' lower ' wharf, one evolved into the famous u-shaped wharf.

This has baffled me for ever and ever, or at least a few years. It's Belle Plain, according to the LoC caption- although those can sometimes miss.

There are a ton of civilians- and no, I don't think this image is of ' contraband ', there are too many women wearing what would have been fashionable clothing. Beyond that, I'm clueless how to explain what seems to be a mass exodus from Belle Plain Landing?

belle crowd close up.JPG

I see a ton of luggage, a few children and what I'm pretty sure are women in era ' fashion '.

belle crowd women.JPG

Considering horses on the pontoon bridge are heading to the steamer, safe to say these civilians are embarking. The civilians aren't helpful identifying what's going on. As usual, we're milling around looking at each other.

belle crowd close up.JPG


Possible explanations;

Refugees, Union or Confederate from one of the cities hit by a battle, en route elsewhere.
Belle Plain was once evacuated? ( can't find that it was )
Image is mis-labeled?

It's all wrong and some nice member who knows their history will clue us in.

belle crowd pontoon.JPG


belle crowd ships boats.JPG


crowd belle full image.jpg
 
I am guessing a river excursion of some kind. You know, a day trip for a picnic or a political meeting. That doesn't seem consistent with Belle Plain, however.


Right? I needed someone much better versed in this stuff- couldn't come up with why well dressed civilians would be at Belle Plain en mass, as it were. Those excursions were huge, there's another pontoon image, from an excursion to Anastasia Island near D.C. that reminds me a little of this. Just a little- a smaller mass of civilians.

georgetown pontoon anastasia.jpg
 
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