The complete issue

Vol. XXII, No. 5
(40 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
An image from the National Archives pictures officers of the 15^th New York Infantry sit around their carefully posed regimental colors.

Table of Contents (p. 1)

Mail Call (pp. 2-3)
Feedback includes several corrections to incorrectly identified soldiers and a request for help finding a specific image.

Passing in Review (pp. 4-5)
Four publications are reviewed, including Promise of Glory: A Novel of Antietam (Forge Books) by C.X. Moreau, Catalog of Uniforms in the Collection of the Museum of the Confederacy (Museum of the Confederacy) by Les Jensen, Campaigns of the 146^th Regiment New York State Volunteers (North Star Press) by Mary Genevie Green Brainard and Minnesota in the Civil War, An Illustrated History (Minnesota Historical Society Press) by Kenneth Carley.

The Auction Block (pp. 6-8)
A sampling of sales from the popular auction site eBay is included.

Engineers at War: An Introduction (pp. 9-13)
Unlike many foreign armies, the U.S. Army considers the Corps of Engineers, one of the Army’s oldest branches of service, a combat arm. Indeed, members of the Corps are often called upon to fight as well as build and destroy. This was also true in the Civil War when engineers were vital in getting armies supplied and from point to point as needed. Identified portraits include P.G.T. Beauregard and Col. Barton S. Alexander of the 1^st Engineer Brigade of the Army of the Potomac,

The U.S. Engineer Battalion (p. 14)
A portrait of Charles E. Cross accompanies the text.

1^st New York Engineers (p. 15)
A portrait of Nathaniel M. Edwards accompanies the text.

15^th New York Engineers (p. 16)
Portraits of captains Stephen Chester and Joseph Wood Jr. accompany the text.

50^th New York Engineers (pp. 17-18)
Portraits of Capt. George W. Ford, 2^nd Lt. Sidney George Gwynne, Asst. Surg. Lewis V. Beers, 1^st Lt. William D. Cameron, 1^st Lt. John T. Davidson and Sgt. Daniel Crane accompany the text.

1^st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics (p. 19)
A portrait of 1^st Lt. Charles W. Calkins and 2^nd Lt. Joseph C. Herkner accompany the text.

Bissell’s Regiment of the West (p. 20)
Portraits of 1^st Lt. Horace B. Hooker, Capt. G. Louis Werth and 2^nd Lt. Charles C. Wood accompany the text.

Corps d’Afrique (p. 21)
Portraits include 2^nd Lt. Frank Brown of the 4^th Regiment, Engineers.

1^st Confederate Regiment, Engineer Troops (p. 22)
Portraits of Col. T.M.R. Talcott and Capt. David S. Hessey illustrate the text.

The 18^th Penna. Vol. Inf., 1898 by Kean E. Wilcox (pp. 23-24)
A brief history of the regiment includes two photographs.

Phil Sheridan, Desk Jockey by J. Dale West (pp. 25-26)
Two portraits of Sheridan are included in the story of “Little Phil’s” early war experience as an administrative officer.

A Dutch Doctor in the Union Army by Mike Fitzpatrick (p. 27-30)
Bernard A. Vanderkieft arrive din New York from his native Holland in September 1861. Less than a month later, he became an assistant surgeon in the 53^rd New York Infantry and began a military career that included service in the 102^nd New York Infantry and the U.S. Volunteers. Brig. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain recommended him for a brevet rank of lieutenant colonel for his courage. Vanderkieft received the promotion and ended the war as a brevet colonel. He died in 1866.

Uniforms & History by Michael J. McAfee (pp. 31-32)
In “Maine Regiments of 1861,” McAfee explains that the 1^st through 6^th regiments of the state wore gray uniforms. Two portraits illustrate the text: A ninth-plate tintype of an unidentified volunteer and a salt print carte de visite of James G. Preble of the 1^st Main Infantry.

Stragglers (pp. 33-37)
Portraits include Capt. Stan Mlotkowsky of Independent Battery A of the Pennsylvania Artillery, Capt. Eugene L. Dunham of the 44^th New York Infantry, 1^st Illinois Light Artillerymen Quartermaster Sgt. Benjamin McCarty, Bugler Manning S. Poole, Wagoner Simeon Prince, Noles T. Quales and Timothy Upton Jr. and Pvt. Samuel Warner of the 16^th Ohio Infantry.

 Sutler’s Row (pp. 38-39)

 The Last Shot (p. 40)
A carte de visite from the John Ertzgaard collection features two Rhode Islanders with the hand written notation, “We have struck ‘Ile.’”