Month: May 2017

The complete issue

Vol. XIV, No. 3
(32 pages)

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Digital edition: Visit JSTOR.org to purchase
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Inside

Cover image
A half-plate daguerreotype from the John Hightower collection pictures a navy midshipman with friend or family, circa 1852-1854.

Editor’s Desk (p. 1)
The editor informs readers about an effort to erect an equestrian monument to Gen. James Longstreet at Gettysburg.

Mail Call (pp. 2-3)
The letters to the editor includes praise (and a humorous note) about the cover image of the last issue, and a request for help from a new subscriber to identify two portraits.

Passing in Review (p. 5)
Five publications are mentioned, including Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander (The University of North Carolina Press), American Victorian Costume in Early Photographs (Dover Books) by Priscilla Harris Dalrymple, Guns of the Wild West (Sterling) by George Markham, Still More Confederate Faces: A Photographic Collection of Southern Soldiers from the Civil War (Metropolitan Co.) by D.A. Serrano and States Rights Gist: A South Carolina General of the Civil War (White Mane Press) by Walter Brian Cisco.

Tar Heels on the Cutting Edge: A gallery of North Carolinians with fearsome blades by Greg Mast (pp. 6-9)
A survey of 14 images of soldiers brandishing a variety of knives is accompanied by a brief and descriptive narrative.

“Some of Us Will Never Come Out:” An account of the 1^st New Jersey Brigade at Gaines Mill by Joseph Bilby (pp. 10-15)
The 1^st New Jersey Brigade, commanded by the colorful and eccentric Brig. Gen. Philip Kearny, distinguished itself during the Peninsula Campaign. The detailed narrative is illustrated with portraits of Kearny, Brig. Gen. George Taylor, Lt. Col. Robert McAllister of the 1^st Infantry, Col. James Simpson of the 4^th Infantry, 1^st Lt. E. Burd Grubb of the 3^rd Infantry, Sgt. Henry Callan of the 2^nd Infantry, Capt. Franklin Knight of the 3^rd Infantry, Col. Isaac Tucker of the 2^nd Infantry, Maj. Henry Ryerson of the 2^nd Infantry, Capt. Penrose Buckley of the 3^rd Infantry, Capt. James Danforth Jr. of the 2^nd Infantry, Maj. David Hatfield of the 1^st Infantry and Lt. Thomas Howell of the 3^rd Infantry.

George Harper Houghton: Green Mountain photographer by Anthony Buono (pp. 16-19)
A biography of the prominent Vermont photographer is illustrated with three wartime images and an 1862 newspaper advertisement.

A Legion of Strangers: European military images in the era of the American Civil War by Philip Katcher (pp. 20-24)
A survey of 21 images of soldiers who served in European armies reveals commonalities in their uniforms compared to their American counterparts. Text that accompanies these images explains how a number of these portraits are now showing up in the collector’s marketplace and being passed off as Union and Confederate soldiers.

Citizen Payne: The life of Aaron Payne, veteran of the Black Hawk War by Leonard Jacobs (pp. 26-27)
A circa 1875 portrait of Payne illustrates a biographical sketch of the pioneer settler who served in the 260-man Illinois battalion commanded by Isaiah Stillman. Images of the monument dedicated to Illinois volunteers and a Payne-related affidavit are also included.

Uniforms & History by Michael J. McAfee (pp. 28-29)
In “The First Light Infantry of Providence, Rhode Island,” McAfee examines the regiment and its distinctive uniforms. The text is illustrated by two soldiers, cutout from a circa 1860 group portrait that is not shown.

Sutlers’ Row (pp. 31-32)

Back cover
Three antebellum images from the collection of John Hightower include a Massachusetts militiaman wearing the belt plate of the Charlestown City Guard.

The complete issue

Vol. XIV, No. 1
(32 pages)

Print edition: Visit our store to check availability
Digital edition: Visit JSTOR.org to purchase
Subscribe to MI
Explore the MI Archives: Browse | Advanced search | Tutorial

Inside

Cover image
An ambrotype from William R. Gibbs pictures his great-grandfather, Samuel Harrison Gunn, a private in the Lunenburg Heavy Artillery of Virginia.

Editor’s Desk (p. 1)
The editor raises alarm bells about the rise in fake images, and includes a recent case of modern copies that appeared in The Art of the Daguerreotype (1989) by Stefan Richter.

Mail Call (p. 3)
The letters to the editor includes a suggestion about how to mark fake images, praise for the recent World War I weapons survey, and issues with crediting a scholar in the recent Sioux Campaign story.

Passing in Review (p. 5)
Three publications are mentioned, including Compendium of the Confederate Armies (Facts on File) by Stewart Sifakis, Jefferson Davis, The Man and His Hour (Harper Collins) by William C. Davis and The Army Called It Home: Military Interiors of the 19^th Century (Thomas Publications) by William L. Brown.

The Gray & The Blue: A Collection of Vignettes from the Brothers’ War (pp. 6-15)
A total of 13 men, 7 Union and 13 Confederate, are profiled here. They include James Magner of the 28^th Massachusetts Infantry, Matthew Magner of Mosby’s Rangers, John James Creekmore of the 15^th Virginia Cavalry, Young H.E. Hitch of the 16^th South Carolina Infantry, William Johnston of the 114^th New York Infantry, David Hamilton Morton of the 149^th Pennsylvania Infantry and more.

The Independent Blues of Selma, Alabama: A Southern Volunteer Militia Company by Thomas Rodgers (pp. 16-17)
An image taken outdoors of the Independent Blues, part of the collection of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, is accompanied by a text profile of the company, which was founded in July 1859. The Blues became Company D of the 8^th Alabama Infantry in 1861, and served in the Army of Northern Virginia through the war.

More Painted Canvas: Another Look at Photographic Backdrops (pp. 18-23)
A survey of 25 images highlights an array of artful backdrops. The photographs are organized in five categories: Classic Backdrops & Exotic Locales, Tenting on the Old Campground, Fortifications, Ships and Postwar Views.

Captain Bob’s Caveat Emptorium (p. 23)
In this installment, the Captain offers up a tintype of a Union infantryman, then reveals that the image was made in 1991 by Bill Dunniway of Mount Hermon, Calif., using a backdrop painted by Richard Staley of San Jose, Calif.

Soldiers of the Signal Corps, 1863-1919 by Anthony Gero (pp. 25-27)
A photo essay of six images from the author’s collection is accompanied by a brief history of the Signal Corps.

Stragglers (pp. 28-29)
Solo photos of the interesting and the unique, from the collections of our readers includes four images: A view of the wagon of Boston photographer G.H. Loomis, a woman who may be a viviandiere or actor, a bereavement card for Civil War soldier Daniel H. Winfield, who was killed at Gettysburg, and an antebellum stereoview of Marines at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Sutlers’ Row (pp. 31-32)

Back cover
Three examples of portraits with painted backdrops.