It’s contest season! The call for entries for the Army Historical Foundation’s annual Distinguished Writing Awards competition is out, and I’m pleased to announce four nominees from 2022 issues of Military Images magazine. They are:

“How They Went Forth to the Harvest of Death”: A concise account of the U.S. Regular Infantry at Gettysburg by Charles T. Joyce, featuring images from the author’s collection (Summer 2022)
The story of the diehard U.S. Regulars at the Battle of Gettysburg has been largely overlooked. This account reveals the trials and tribulations they endured.

Scoundrel: The rise and fall of Union spy chief Lafayette Curry Baker by David B. Holcomb (Summer 2022)
Lafayette C. Baker’s journey took him from San Francisco vigilante to Allen J. Pinkerton adversary to controversial spy chief and captor of Booth. His story.

Illinois Faces of the Civil War introduced by Austin Sundstrom and featuring portraits from the image collecting community (Autumn 2022)
Representative portraits and stories of Illinoisans who participated in the Civil War includes 45 images, most published for the first time.

Birthplace of the American Zouave: How Elmer Ellsworth spread Zouave mania through Illinois and the rest of America by Ron Field (Autumn 2022)
The origins of Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth and how he fostered Zouave mania first in Chicago, Ill., and through the rest of America.

“Life in the Civil War Research Trail” is hosted by Ronald S. Coddington, Editor and Publisher of Military Images magazine. Learn more about our mission to showcase, interpret and preserve Civil War portrait photography at militaryimagesmagazine.com.