Author: MI Editor

Northern ingenuity created a singular style of headgear for the volunteer soldiery of the Union during the first few months of the Civil War. In order to provide protection from the elements, hatters in several states developed what generally became known as the “Havelock hat” or “Improved Military Cap.” A field guide to this distinctive cap is featured in the Winter 2015 issue of Military Images.

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Before the Monitor left the Brooklyn Navy Yard in February 1862, Acting Asst. Paymaster William Frederick Keeler had his photograph taken in his new uniform. “I felt awkward enough at first in mine,” he wrote to his wife, Anna, saying that, “it seemed like every one was looking at me.” Thus begins the story of Keeler and his experiences aboard the famed ironclad. He served on the Monitor for its brief lifespan, and his story is told in the Autumn 2014 issue of Military Images.

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Paul Russinoff has been fascinated by history and antiques for as long as he can remember. His interest was heightened in 1975, when at age 10, and living with his family in suburban Detroit, Mich., his mother bought him a box of lead Civil War soldiers. Soon after, he purchased a tintype of a Union soldier with a name scribbled on the back. “I was hooked,” he recalled. Representative images from Russinoff’s collection are the featured gallery in the Autumn 2014 issue of Military Images.

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An ardent collector and part-time dealer of early photography, Matt Cranford is drawn to the uncommon side of Civil War imagery. Matt searches for artfully composed, technically superior and conditionally sound images that reveal the theater of war—from the serious to the whimsical. Although a scientist by trade, Cranford is drawn to images by their aesthetics. He finds ambrotypes especially satisfying. “A great one possesses a rich tonal range from creamy lights to the deep blacks of the backing,” Cranford notes. “They add a painterly aura to the work.” 15 representative images from Cranford’s collection are the featured gallery in the Summer 2014 issue of Military Images.

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The hatband on the cap worn by William G. Armstrong is marked with his name and regiment. A private in Company F of the 6th Iowa Cavalry, he is pictured here with his cavalry saber and revolver after his November 1862 enlistment. Armstrong was killed in action less than a year later in the Battle of Whitestone Hill, the final engagement in 1863 operations against the Sioux and other Indian nations in Dakota Territory.

Carte de visite by an anonymous photographer. 

Two Union infantrymen identified only as Ed and Anson Brown.

Carte de visite by A D. Woodworth of Albany, N.Y.

A group of non-commissioned officers and enlisted men relax in camp armed with cooking equipment. The ranking member, a sergeant with an upturned fatigue cap, holds a plate of grub in one hand, and a tin cup in the other. A private to the right prepares to pour coffee into the sergeant’s cup. Behind them, a private and corporal stand with tin plates, cup, fork and knife at the ready. Another corporal and three more privates sit or crouch around the campfire circle and demonstrate various cooking scenes. The knife-wielding man on the far left seems to be smiling. Also visible is a stand of arms, tents and a wagon. The cooking implements and background appear in other images, which suggest the tin ware may have been props. One of these other views identifies the location as a camp at Warrenton Junction along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in Virginia.

Quarter-plate tintype by an anonymous photographer. Ken Bertholf collection.