Life is a stage for these federals. The soldier on the right demonstrates the use of a small tin drum canteen with an outer convex face. With bent knees and a hand jauntily placed on his hip, he appears ready to dance a jig. His comrade seems unaffected by his partner’s antics. He is identified on the back as Chas. Josh. Folsom. This may be Sgt. Charles J. Folsom, who served in Company I of the 132nd Ohio Infantry. “The unusual content reveals another side of the war—some lightheartedness in passing time between skirmishes,” Cranford observes.
Quarter-plate tintype by an anonymous photographer. Matt Cranford collection.
