The complete issue
Vol. XXX, No. 4
(40 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
A rare, signed carte de visite of Confederate guerrilla leader Champ Ferguson from the John Sickles collection.
Inside Cover Image
A carte de visite from the Steven Karnes collection features a company of Union soldiers, including a drummer and fifer playing their instruments. The company and location is not known, nor is the photographer identified.
Table of Contents (p. 1)
Editor’s Desk, Inside and Inside Back Cover Details (p. 2)
The editor wishes everyone a great summer. Though the issue was mailed in the summer, the issue date is in the winter. The gap relates to problems with frequency of issues.
Images From the Collection of Jason Puckett (pp. 3-15)
A total of 13 Civil War images, 10 Union, 2 Confederate and one allegiance unknown compose a gallery of representative photographs from the Jason Puckett collection. Three of the subjects have airtight identifications, Lt. William D. Sullivan of the 147th New York Infantry and
A New Hampshire Tribute by Mark Flenard (pp. 16-17)
Two soldiers from Company C of the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry are pictured in a portrait that was found by the author in an antiques shop. Though men were originally nameless, the author identified them with the help of the American Civil War Research Data Base. Benjamin F. Chase was killed on July 2, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg. Norton R. Moore died on Aug. 29, 1862, at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
Numbers Prevailed: Lieutenant James Johnston, Company E, 121st New York Infantry by Scott Valentine (pp. 18-19)
Wounded multiple times during the Civil War, James Walter Johnston suffered a bayonet wound in action during the dramatic assault at the Mule Shoe Salient during the horrific fighting at the Battle of Spotsylvania.
Marsh M. Patrick, 154th ‘Senior’ Tennessee Infantry CSA (p. 20)
A full-plate tintype from the John Walsh collection pictures Lt. Col. Marsh M. Patrick in an early war militia uniform and shako with plume. Patrick began his war service as captain of Company H, also known as the Crockett Rangers. He later advanced to lieutenant colonel.
The Charlestown City Guard by Ron Field (pp. 21-23)
The City Guard was organized in Charlestown, Mass., in the fall of 1850 and became Company H of the 5th Massachusetts Infantry during the Civil War. A history of this company and its distinctive uniforms are included, and the text is illustrated by an 1857 image that is a composite of portraits of every member of the organization. Two other portraits, an ambrotype of Samuel R. Brintnall and a daguerreotype identified only as “Watson,” are also included.
The Confederate Soldier (p. 24)
An unidentified cavalryman with two holstered Colt Navy .36 caliber revolvers, and a third drawn and prominently displayed, is pictured in a carte de visite copy portrait with a Springfield, Tenn., back mark from the John Sickles collection.
Uniforms & History by Michael J. McAfee (pp. 25-33)
In “The Way They Looked,” McAfee considers the average soldier of the Union army. The narrative features a group portrait of an officer and nine enlisted men. A total of 16 more portraits, all cartes de visite from the author’s collection, show a variety of poses, back drops, uniform styles and equipment. Identified images include Thomas Doughty and John Hollings of the 82nd Pennsylvania Infantry; William Hull, Christopher Soies and John Woodward of the 12th Connecticut Infantry; Thomas Hughes of the 149th Indiana Infantry; William Leiby of the 47th Wisconsin Infantry; Philip M. Roberts of the 102nd New York Infantry; Frank Benedict of the 124th New York Infantry and Clarence E. Wilson of the 2nd New York Infantry.
Stragglers (pp. 34-37)
Six images—5 Union and 1 Confederate—contributed by readers compose this issue’s collection. Included is a carte de visite of an African American soldier, a sergeant who served in the 9th Wisconsin Infantry, a Corps of Engineers officer, a private with a Model 1861 musket, a Confederate cavalryman and a Union cavalaryman.
Sutler’s Row (p. 38)
The Last Shot (p. 40)
In this circa 1920 postcard an African American woman poses with a Mexican War era Model 1842 percussion pistol. A garbled message on the back of the postcard says she is threatening one Loretta for taking her man or son. Although a non-military image, notes the editor, the presence of a military firearm in the picture makes for an interesting subject.
Inside Back Cover
An unidentified member of the Continental Morgan Guards, Company K, 5th Virginia Infantry is the subject of a sixth-plate ambrotype from the Mahlon Nichols collection.
Back Cover
Principal Musician William Melford of the 7th U.S. Infantry Band stands with his bugle in this circa 1898 photograph from the Chris Nelson collection. The 7th was composed of African American troops. Melford was a major influence on Kansas City jazz.
