Author: MI Editor

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Finding Aid: May/June 2005

The complete issue

Vol. XXVI, No. 6
(40 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer taken on or about Jan. 25, 1864, shortly before he returned to his home state of Michigan to marry Elizabeth Bacon. Albumen print from the John Beckendorf collection.

Table of Contents (p. 1)

Editor’s Desk (p. 2)
The editor summarizes features in this issue, and highlights upcoming plans for issues dedicated to Ohio and Alabama. A letter to the editor is also included.

Passing in Review (pp. 4-5)
Two books are reviewed and both are recommended. G.A. Custer, His Life and Times by Glenwood J. Swanson is “a must have book, a real thing of beauty, and on a scale of one to ten this reviewer gives it a ten and then some.” The Bloody Crucible Of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience in the Civil War by Brent Nosworthy is “chock full of great information and penetrating analysis.”

The CDV Album of Major Robert C. Wallace, 5th Michigan Cavalry by John Peter Beckendorf (pp. 6-20)
In this second part of the Wallace’s story, the author explains how he found the album and shares key details of the post-war years of Wallace (1844-1928). The introduction is illustrated by a carte de visite of Wallace in uniform from the Mike Hogle collection and an albumen print from the Terry Reilly collection of officers of the 5th at Stevensburg, Va., during the winter of 1863-1864. The personal carte de visite album is published in its entirety. It includes 18 wartime images—15 identified images and 3 unidentified. The named men are Capt. Benjamin Axtell, Maj. Crawley P. Dake, Capt. Horace W. Dodge, Capt. George Drake, Capt. George N. Dutcher, Capt. Hiram H. Hall, 2nd Lt. George H. Hill, Capt. Robert F. Judson, Capt. William T. Magoffin, Capt. David Oliphant, Maj. Stephen P. Purdy, Capt. William H. Rolls, Capt. Charles H. Safford and Acting Ensign Robert M. Wagstaff. Two postwar images are also included. The subject is Charles Y. Osburn, and officer in the 5th and a close friend of Maj. Wallace.

Daniel E. Bedford and the 12th Illinois Cavalry by John Robella (pp. 21-23)
Civil War soldier, army scout and Wild West performer, Bedford’s story reads more like a Hollywood movie script than a real life narrative. The story is illustrated with three portraits of Bedford (1846-1929) from the author’s collection: An early war tintype, a carte de visite taken shortly after the war, and a late life likeness.

Witness by Scott Valentine (pp. 24-26)
Capt. Zabdiel Boylston Adams of the 56th Massachusetts Infantry suffered a serious wound to his left leg and fell into enemy hands during the Battle of the Wilderness, Va., on May 6, 1864. Taken to a makeshift Confederate hospital, he was placed next to an unconscious Union brigadier general. The high-ranking officer was James Wadsworth, who had been mortally wounded in the head by a bullet. After Wadsworth died, Adams cut a lock of the general’s hair. He was eventually released and returned to Boston, where he presented the lock of hair to Wadsworth’s widow.

Arad Wilbar, 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry by Paul S. Johnson (p. 27)
The author recounts how he came to identify a carte de visite of an unnamed soldier published in a 1993 issue of Military Images. The soldier, Arad Wilbar, served in Company E the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry. He survived wounds on two Virginia battlefield, at Fair Oaks in 1862 and the Wilderness in 1864, and lived until 1926.

Military and Patriotic Photographic Mats, Preservers, and Cases of the Civil War Period by Paul K. Berg (pp. 28-34)
A follow-up to the author’s first article in this subject in the January-February 1999 issue of Military Images, this survey is introduced with a brief history of hard plate photographs. The rest of the article is divided into sections for mats, preservers and cases, including examples and basic information.

Uniforms & History by Michael J. McAfee (pp. 35-36)
In “The Wearing of the Harp,” McAfee traces the Civil War use of Irish harp as an official insignia—or rather the lack of it—in images. He shares scant wartime and a post-war example of soldiers wearing the harp pin and concludes that they were a standard piece of military goods found in the store of the camp sutler.

The Confederate Soldier (p. 37)
A sixth-plate ambrotype from the Mike Medhurst collection pictures Sam Harris of the 9th Mississippi Infantry.

Stragglers (p. 38)
Three images are featured in this issue, including a late war image of an unidentified Union major or lieutenant colonel wearing a 15th Army Corps badge and a mourning ribbon, a group of soldiers in camp and an unidentified sergeant in Company E of the 14th Brooklyn Infantry.

Sutler’s Row (p. 39)

The Last Shot (p. 40)
An unidentified Union soldier holding a bottle of ‘Oh be joyful” in one hand and a mucket to drink it in the other is the subject of this sixth-plate tintype from the John Robella collection.

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Finding Aid: July/August 1986

The complete issue

Vol. VIII, No. 1
(32 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
The cover of the current issue is an American hussar from about 1860, complete with the fur headgear with the death’s head insignia.

Editor’s Desk (p. 1)
The editor discusses the problem that the publication team had with saving and using back issues of Military Images. He writes with high praise for the work of Frank Jasek, who bound each volume into a hardcover set. The editor also discussed some of the upcoming features planned for future issues.

Mail Call (pp. 2-3)
A lengthy letter from a reader questions the identification of an individual in as Lt. David Raney, Confederate States Marines, providing a great deal of information to put the positive identification back into question. Another article disputes the assertion that the Colt revolving rifle saw limited and unpopular use during the war, using the history of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade as evidence.

Passing in Review (pp. 3-4)
Four volumes are presented for review in this issue of Military Images. First is Recollections of a Naval Officer by Captain William H. Parker, which is a quality reprint of the memoirs of a Confederate naval officer who had many memorable experiences; it is reprinted as part of the Classics in Naval Literature series. Next is Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle by John Keegan and Richard Holmes. The volume is a companion book to a British television series and devotes considerable space to discussions of the American Civil War and the lessons that were “too often ignored by professional soldiers in Europe.” Third is History of the First Delaware Volunteers by William P. Seville, another reprint of the original and only history of the unit written in 1884. Last is a review of an audiotape, Battlefields and Campfires, by the 97th Regimental String Band. Created by reenactors. The tape includes many of the songs of the era, played as they would have likely been played by soldiers of the Civil War.

The Darkroom (p. 5)
George Hart answers a question from a reader regarding the best way to repair damaged daguerreotype cases and how collectors store or clean their images. He responds with a list of products and suggested reading, and also explains that the means used by museums to control the environments of their collections are beyond the means of collectors. He describes how a pistol case can be used to protect images that are within cases and also cautions collectors to use “acid free” products that might come into contact with albumen images in particular.

Izzat a Chaplain or what?: Masonic Uniforms of the Civil War Period by Jacques Noel Jacobsen, Jr. (pp. 6-7)
A part of American history that goes back to before the Revolution, the fact that there were organized military lodges of Masons among both Union and Confederate soldiers should come as no surprise. The story is frequently told of captured or wounded Masons giving the sign of distress to their captors in order to receive protection while captured during the Civil War. What is more unusual is to see some of the Masonic badges and symbols from this era. The article includes six different images which describe the insignia, from the simple Masonic square and compass to the more elaborate insignia worn by Knights Templar and even a Master Mason. Two images from the post-Civil War era are also included.

Corps Badges of the Civil War, Part II: VI through X Corps by Wendell Lang (pp. 8-15)
The second of the series on the Corps badges worn by Federal soldiers begins with a short description of how the felt insignia were supposed to be worn, which was on the front or top of the cap, or the side of wide-brimmed hat. As seen by the images included in the article, the men had other ways of wearing their corps badges. Often purchasing more elaborate pins or even cockades, the men would also wear their badges with pride on their chest. One image shows a private of the 10th Vermont Infantry wearing the badges of both III and VI Corps, along with another shield-shaped badge, showing the movement of units between corps. The article shows thirteen soldiers wearing the VI Corps badge, a vertical Greek or Swiss cross, in a number of forms. There was no badge adopted for VII Corps (the Department of Arkansas) during the war, but a five-pointed star riding on a crescent was approved after the war was over and before the corps was disbanded; no photographic image is included. VIII Corps also had no official corps badge, but the men adopted the six-pointed star, as shown in the image included with the article. The badge for IX Corps was a badge shape with cannon and anchor imposed on it, reflecting the “amphibious operations” of this corps in North Carolina at the start of the war. The last badge presented in the article is for X Corps, a “square with an extended point at each corner” which represents the overhead view of a typical fort “with four bastions.”

The Militia of ’61: U.S. Army Uniforms of the Civil War, Part VIII by Michael J. McAfee (pp. 16-24)
Providing an overview of the history of militia in the United States, the author intends to show that there was no one “militia” in existence at the time of the Civil War. Tracing back to the “common” militia under which the different states could design their own militia system, the reader finds out that this system was in great decline by 1861. However, the “volunteer” militia, which were basically private clubs that were attached to the “common” militia. By the decade prior to the Civil War, states such as Massachusetts and New York tried to instill a regimental spirit by imposing uniforms, but this was largely unsuccessful, as the competitive nature of these groups prevailed. To make things more complicated for the collector, there were also units that had a military air to them, but were not actual militia units. They were more of a social club, many of which would perform as drill or marching societies. Militia uniforms could take three forms: “modern” units would wear variations of the 1851 U.S. Regular Army uniform; “traditional” units would wear the older type of uniform with high collars, tight sleeves, and tailed coats; “specialized” units would have more elaborate uniforms and could include hussars, Highlanders, and Zouaves. The twenty images that accompany the article, including one of Brig. Gen. Benjamin Butler of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia in 1861, provide an excellent visual overview of the discussion.

“Up, Alabamians!”: The 4th Alabama Infantry at Manassas by Gregory Starbuck (pp. 25-29)
Eleven images of the men of the 4th Alabama illustrate the account of the first engagement that this unit underwent. Under the command of General Bernard Bee on Henry House Hill , the unit lost 40 killed and 170 wounded. The article recounts the stories of those who survived, such as Private Joe Angell who was knocked unconscious by a cannonball that hit his knapsack, and those who did not, like Colonel Egbert Jones who had undergone the embarrassment of a petition by his men because they had not seen enough action and wanted to redeem himself in battle. It also includes the story of two men who were not supposed to be there. Dr. Samuel Vaughn had been visiting relatives in the 4th when the unit moved out to Manassas from Winchester; he and his servant, James Jefferson (one of the few documented cases of a slave fighting for the Confederacy), accompanied the unit and fought with the regiment in this first frightening step into the Civil War.

Stragglers (p. 30)
Two images—a “before” and “after” pair—show the crew of a ship identified only by a banner in the second image with “O.Y.C.” The first image shows the crew cleaning up for their photograph, wearing undershirts and getting shaved, brushing hair and teeth, and generally in a relaxed mood. The second image shows the same crew with their banner and American flag, posing for their photograph in uniform and looking “shipshape.”

Back Image
1st Lt. James Young of Company K, 4th Alabama who was involved in the fighting of the 4th Alabama at First Manassas.

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Finding Aid: May/June 1986

The complete issue

Vol. VII, No. 6
(32 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
The oval image on the front cover is an unidentified Confederate who might be James D. Bulloch, who was in charge of the European shipbuilding program during the Civil War.

Editor’s Desk (p. 1)
The editor notes that an article in the current issue is topical based on continuing news from South Africa and Ireland. The upcoming 125th anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run will also be followed by Military Images; the editor provides a short overview of what readers can expect.

Mail Call (p. 2)
Letters to the editor include an explanation of label codes found on Military Images address labels and a clarification of the different cavalry regiments assigned to the U.S. Colored Troops are included. The editor also included a letter from William C. Davis which objected to the “Passing in Review” (March-April 1986) claim that persons other than the author selected the images for his work; the editor extended his apologies for the assertion and thanked Mr. Davis for his courtesy.

Passing in Review (p. 3)
Two publications are reviewed for the benefit of the readership in the issue. First is All for the Union edited by Robert Hunt Rhodes. Although subtitled to suggest it to be a history of the 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, it is more a collection of diary entries, letters, and images from the collection of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, who served from 1861-1865. Second is Dear Friends at Home: The Letters and Diary of Thomas James Owen, Fiftieth New York Volunteer Regiment, During the Civil War edited by Dale E. Floyd. This volume does not come across as favorably as the first. It focuses mainly on a short period of time in 1864 from City Point during the siege of Petersburg, and does not provide much insight into the activities of the unit, but more on the political views of the author.

The 18th Louisiana Infantry: Acadians in Gray by Michael D. Jones (pp. 5-7)
This unit was much like other Confederate volunteers, but in one aspect they were very different. The men of the 18th Louisiana were French-speaking descendants of exiles sent out of Nova Scotia in 1755 as they refused to swear allegiance to the British king. The regiment represented the elite of Louisiana in the person of Colonel Alfred Mouton, who was a 1850 graduate of West Point and the son of a former Louisiana governor. It also represented the typical resident of the state: farmers, laborers, workmen from mostly the southern part of the state. The 18th Louisiana fought bravely at Shiloh, losing many at the Hornet’s Nest. They were sent then to the Trans-Mississippi Department, where they eventually took part in the Lafourche campaign and the Battle of Bayou Teche. While their last major battle was at Sabine Cross Roads, they remained together to become one of the last Confederate units to surrender in June 1865.

Pards: Photos of Friends, Partners, and Pals by Richard Carlile (pp. 8-13)
Twenty different images are presented of soldiers in the field or in the photographer’s studio. They were all comrades frequently displaying their arms, and all marking their Civil War friendships for posterity.

Chicago’s Wild Geese: Irish Volunteers in the Boer War by Kevin Young (pp. 14-15)
Some hatred die hard, and this article focuses on the continuing enmity felt by the Irish toward the British, this time taking the form of Irish-Americans who left Chicago to take up arms against the British in the Boer War in 1900. They fought with the deeply religious Boers, Protestants who looked upon the hard drinking and swearing Irish-Catholics from Chicago with some distain. However, the Boers needed fighters, and once the “Chicago Ambulance Corps” landed at Pretoria, they were handed guns under the leadership of John Y.F. Blake, a West Point graduate (1880) who had been in the 6th Cavalry and served, as had many of the Chicagoans, in the Spanish-American War. The Red Cross took away their flag and the American ambassador to South Africa protested, but the Chicagoans fought hard and provided rear guard support during Boer retreats. A monument to the first two casualties from the unit was erected in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chicago to commemorate this group of Irish who took the fight to the British in South Africa.

Corps Badges of the Civil War, Part I: I, II, III, IV, V Corps by Wendell Lang (pp. 16-25)
This first of three articles about the Union corps badge begins with the story of how General Philip Kearny wanted to be able to identify “any of his officers who shirked or straggled” in the retreat across Virginia in the summer of 1862. He took his own red wool blanket and had his officers wear a red square for identification. After his death at the Battle of Chantilly on September 1, 1862, the men of his corps began to wear the badge as a memorial, gradually changing the shape until it was more of a diamond rather than a square. Joseph Hooker standardized this practice in March 1863. Today, our military wears identification patches to show their unit affiliation in an extension of this tradition. Twenty-six different images illustrate the different ways that the circle of I Corps, the trefoil (shamrock) of II Corps, the diamond of III Corps, the triangle of IV Corps, and the Maltese cross of V Corps. The insignia were often felt and sewn to soldiers’ kepis or worn on their uniform coats. Others were manufactured with bullion edging or made out of brass and attached with pin backs. The article shows the wide variety of corps badges and the many ways in which they were worn.

Stragglers (p. 25)
A soldier from Company H, 7th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, a unit called up for the Battle of Antietam is the only image featured.

Whitfield’s Cavalry: A Texas-Arkansas Battalion in the Western Confederacy by Barry Mickey (pp. 27-29)
After routing Federal forces at Wilson’s Creek in August of 1861, commanding General Ben McCollough was in a hard place. His troops were from Arkansas and had not enlisted in the Confederate army, but had enlisted to serve in Missouri as state troopers. Only 18 of the men who fought at Wilson’s Creek decided to enlist as CSA soldiers. One small unit, Murphy’s Company of Arkansas Cavalry, was mustered in October 1861 and eventually merged with John W. Whitfield’s “Whitfield Rifles” from Texas and two other Texas companies to become the 4th Battalion, Texas Cavalry with Major Whitfield commanding. They fought against Union-supporting Indians and fought at Pea Ridge, before being reorganized as Whitfield’s Legion with the addition of seven more companies from Texas and one from Arkansas. Under the command of General Van Dorn this dismounted unit was sent to assist in Western Tennessee after Shiloh when the unit was again reorganized. This time, the Arkansans were grouped together and detached as Company H of the 1st Battalion Arkansas Cavalry. Both the Texas and Arkansas units saw extensive service, with the Arkansas fighting in pivotal engagements such as Vicksburg and the Texans fighting in the Battle of Iuka and the raid at Holly Springs, both in Mississippi.

Back Image
A cavalry trooper astride his mount graces the back cover.

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Finding Aid: March/April 1986

The complete issue

Vol. VII, No. 5
(32 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
The front of this issue of Military Images features a soldier in kepi with a tintype image in his lap. He was 18 year old Freeman Mason of the 17th Vermont Infantry and the figure on the right in the tintype was his brother Michael. Both of the Mason brothers died in the service of their country.

Editor’s Desk (p. 1)
The editor notes a change in address for the magazine, and an increase in subscription prices due to rising costs of production and mailing. A preview of the upcoming issues was also outlined, based on popular issues of past issues.

Mail Call (p. 2)
The editor addresses a call for a rebuttal of a review of a publication in the September-October 1985 issue; the author and the reviewer have gone into litigation and the editor feels it best to refrain from comment. The author appears to have fraudulently gained access to the MI mailing list, and the editor requests that any communication be forwarded including the mailing label. A reader also questions the identity of the “oldest continuing military organization” in the U.S.

Passing in Review (pp. 3-4)
The current issue includes three reviews, beginning with The March to the Sea and Beyond by Joseph T. Glatthaar. The work looks at the Western Union soldier through the lens of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. He looks at their views on the war, the South and slavery, and other issues on a more individual basis and discusses how these views changed during the campaign. The next review is of Touched by Fire: a Photographic Portrait of the Civil War, Volume I edited by William C. Davis. The reviewer does not give this volume very high marks. While nicely produced, it is not a recommended purchase. Cannoneers in Gray by Larry J. Daniel tells the story of the artillery branch of the Army of Tennessee and how these soldiers, at a disadvantage in many different ways, held up against their Northern opponents.

Vignette: Isaac Buswell, A patriot in the 20th N.Y.S.M. by Seward R. Osborne (p. 5)
“Ike” Buswell came from a family grounded in military service and he proved himself to be of the same patriotic cloth. He was taken prisoner in 1862 while taking a small expedition to find out what he could about Confederate secret mail service between Richmond and Fredericksburg, spending time in Libby Prison and Belle Isle. He was paroled, recuperated, promoted, and returned to the 20th only to be wounded on the first day of fighting at Gettysburg. His wounded leg became gangrenous, but he fought to keep his leg, returning once again to the 20th. The end of the war saw Ike Buswell with the rank of captain and part of the forces occupying Richmond at the end of the war.

Brady and Lee – 1866: The history of a photographic session by John O’Brien (pp. 6-8)
Complete with four different versions of on an iconic image, the author describes the history of the 1866 image of Robert E. Lee, the first postwar photograph that was often noted as being taken in Washington, D.C. in 1869. It was an image that Lee and the college he led (now known as Washington and Lee in Lexington, Virginia) wanted in order to show that he had moved on and was taking an active role in Reconstruction Virginia. It contrasts greatly with the 1865 image that Mathew Brady took of Lee on his porch in Richmond immediately after the surrender at Appomattox, also included with the article.

Vignette: Edwin Francis Johnson, a private in the 2nd Louisiana Infantry by Keith Bohannon (p. 9)
One of the most well-known images of the Civil War, the oval portrait of a very young Confederate soldier is often misidentified as belonging to a member of a Georgia regiment, although the kepi he wears bears the pelican insignia of Louisiana. The vignette describes his military career, ending with his death in July 1862 at Malvern Hill in Virginia.

Capt. Abraham Cottrell by Kean Wilcox (pp. 11-15)
He was both a photographer and a soldier, and a series of previously unpublished tintype images found in the effects of Capt. Cottrell have allowed the author to investigate both aspects of this soldier/photographer. Serving with the 8th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, Cottrell had been appointed as an aid-de-camp to General Isaac Stevens for his exceptional service in South Carolina in 1861. He was injured when his horse fell on him in early 1862, and eventually returned to serve as commander of Company E (“The Elder Zouaves”) of the 8th Michigan at Secessionville, South Carolina; his injuries in that battle, which initially saw him listed as killed in action, led to promotion and eventually a discharge for disability in March 1863. However, Cottrell returned to service later that same year as a lieutenant in the Invalid Corps, later renamed the Veterans Reserve Corps. His organizational abilities with the 16th Regiment of the VRC led to a promotion to captain, and a number of various independent command assignments. The article includes portraits of Cottrell, including some post-war cartes de visite and samples of backmarks he used with his work in Lansing, Michigan. The remaining images are of the four quarter plate tintypes found among Cottrell’s effects which feature a photographer working at some sort of ceremony.

Union Cavalry Carbines by Richard Carlile (pp. 16-26)
More than twenty images make up this informational pictorial article on the weapon that was favored by Union cavalry units. The carbine allowed the cavalry to fight mounted or dismounted, providing another weapon that could be effectively used by cavalry units. The problem was the vast number of different makes of carbine, each requiring a specific type of cartridge for its ammunition. The article discusses the main carbine brands used by the Union in the Civil War, and provides a chart that illustrates 16 different carbine types. The two most commonly used were the Sharps and the Burnside, with the seven-shot Spencer that appeared towards the end of the conflict. The images include many different types, including one of a Gallager; that particular make was popular, but not seen often in photographs.

To the Bitter End: Lt. David Raney, Confederate States Marines by David M. Sullivan (pp. 26-28)
A misidentification of an image led to the investigation of who the subject of the image was: Lt. David Raney, Jr., a native of Apalachicola, Florida, the first commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the Confederate States Marine Corps. Serving until the end of the war, he had a wide range of experiences from serving on the flagship of Commodore Tattnall during fighting at Port Royal to serving in the garrison at Drewry’s Point to commanding the Marines on the C.S.S. Tennessee and being captured at Mobile Bay. Raney escaped from prison in New Orleans and returned to Mobile to command Company D. Raney was with a group of his Marines when the C.S.S. Morgan surrendered on May 10, 1865, signing his parole papers for his men and for himself. Raney never did quite recover from the loss of the Confederacy, ending up a recluse in his family home in Apalachicola for the remainder of his life.

Stragglers (pp. 30-31)
Images submitted for inclusion in this issue of Military Images includes two views of the Inaugural Parade for President Taft in March 1909, including a mountain battery unit loaded on mules. An officer of the day from the Connecticut National Guard is also included, as is an 1888 image of the Lisbon, Ohio militia battery. The same gun is on display in the town’s village square.

Back Image
A fully armed Union soldier, including a Model-1859 Sharps carbine.

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Assassination in Jackson County

By 1865, the bullets had stopped flying and many of the soldiers in blue and gray marched home. But the residual effects of the war would continue for many years. Although Union veteran John Quincy Dickinson had escaped death on the battlefield, he faced new threats in his assignment to the Freedman’s Bureau in Jackson County, Fla., where he found himself in the crosshairs of the politically charged violence of the reconstruction effort.

The full story appears in the Winter 2016 issue of Military Images magazine.

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Riding the Rail, Revisited

25 years after a unique photo of a soldier holding an impossible large wood sword and seated astride an oversize “horse” made of timber made the rounds in books and film, Robert L. Kotchian discovered its origins and connections to Old World punishments.

The full story appears in the Winter 2016 issue of Military Images magazine.

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Thoughts on Private Booth

“When we attempt to understand history, we often find that empirical truths unfold alongside significant symbolic moments,” writes historian J. Matthew Gallman in this reflection on a portrait of Pvt. Booth of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry. Gallman adds, “And, to make things even more complicated, it is not at all unusual that our collective memory of events (both real and symbolic) differs from how participants understood what they were living through.” The image of this black trooper speaks to emerging themes of democracy, equality and the individualism of the American soldier.

Gallman’s thoughts appear in the Winter 2016 issue of Military Images magazine.

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Finding Aid: Jan./Feb. 1986

The complete issue

Vol. VII, No. 4
(32 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
He may look like a Prussian soldier fresh from a victory in the Franco-Prussian War, but the soldier on the cover with the Pickelhaube helmet is Joseph Vance, a member of Company A, Light Artillery, Rhode Island State Militia, taken 1885-1886.

Editor’s Desk (p. 1)
The editor presents two new features with this issue. “The Darkroom” answers reader questions about the technology of imaging, while “Exhibits” lists museum and traveling exhibitions of interest to the readership. He also describes the types of articles that will be forthcoming, and welcomes suggestions as well as images. The editor also reprinted a clearer version of the wounded soldier in his hospital gown from the previous issue’s “Stragglers” feature.

Mail Call (pp. 2-3)
Letters to the editor included a request for help in identifying a shoulder strap uniform device, additional information on images from past issues, and additional responses to the editorial regarding U.S. policy in Nicaragua.

Darkroom (pp. 4-5)
George Hart’s first feature responds to the question regarding the sizes of different types of images. While a standard table is presented in the response, the great variation in sizes such as quarter-plate or ninth-plate images is due to the fact that many photographers cut their own plates. Tintypes are particularly known for this.

Six Sons for the Confederacy: The letters of Robert H. Jones, 22nd Georgia Infantry edited by Keith Bohannon (pp. 6-8)
The eldest of the six Jones brothers from Floyd County, Georgia, Robert H. Jones had organized the “Fireside Defenders” in August 1861. Once organized into the 22nd Georgia Volunteers, the 33 year old Jones was made colonel, two brothers made captain, one chaplain, and two remained privates. All six appear in an image taken in 1861, and although the six fought together at the start of the war, none were still with the 22nd Georgia at war’s end. The letters from Colonel Jones to his wife Lucinthia provide a glimpse into camp life during several different points of the war, from the humorous response of his troops (and body servant) to hearing cannon fire that was not warfare, but a salute to George Washington on his birthday to a more serious account of his unit during the Seven Days. Writing from Leesburg, Virginia, he tells her that “all the Brothers are well” just days prior to Antietam, where his brother Captain Wesley Jones was wounded; taken prisoner, he died from his wounds in October 1862.

“It is with a heavy harte…”: A letter to Private Clark’s sister edited by Richard K. Tibbals (p. 9)
Both men were 24 years old, and both enlisted in Company H, 22nd Indiana Infantry, Post’s Brigade from their homes in Lexington, Indiana. Privates John Clark and John Snodgrass had been friends at home, and remained close in their military lives as well. However, at Stone’s River on December 31, 1862, the fighting between the Union forces and their Confederate attackers split the two. In a letter sent to Private Clark’s sister Margaret, Private John Snodgrass wrote about the fighting that day, how he stayed with his friend as long as he could, and that he had been properly buried in a walnut coffin.

Farewell to Fancy Epaulettes: Philadelphia militia uniforms, 1866-1917 by Philip Katcher (pp. 10-13)
Eight different images accompany this article that describes the many changes seen by the militia of Philadelphia. Focusing on the last three to wear independent volunteer uniforms, the author briefly discusses the histories of the First Troop, Philadelphia Cavalry, the State Fencibles of Philadelphia, and the First Regiment Infantry of Philadelphia and their glorious dress uniforms.

Vignette: A Late Paycheck for Gilbert Montgomery, 4th U.S. Cavalry by William Gladstone (pp. 14-15)
A bit of sleuthing partially answers the questions about the man in the image and the two documents that belonged to him that are the focus of this article. A cook, not a soldier, Gilbert Montgomery was subject to the same procedures as enlisted soldiers. But there was a problem when Gilbert Montgomery was discharged from his five year service in 1869: he was underpaid. He was sent a check to make up the difference, and that check was not cashed. The question remains of why he never took the check to recover the $21.17 he was owed for his service.

Victorian Warriors: A photo survey of uniforms of the National Guard, 1870-1890 by Anthony Gero (pp. 16-24)
Sixteen images accompany the short article that outlines the history of the National Guard in the post-Civil War era. The increased cost of these units combined with a decrease in recruitment during this era led to many states standardizing their National Guard uniforms along federal lines. By the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898, only a few places retained the marvelous Victorian uniforms shown in this article. Featured are bearskins, several M1881 helmets with Prussian-style Pickelhaube, shakos, kepis with plumes, tailed coats, and epaulettes.

Vignette: A Down East Heavy: Rodolphus Tufts, 1st Maine Heavy Artillery by Wendell W. Lang (p. 25)
Enlisting in Company D, 18th Maine Infantry, Rodolphus Tufts was sent with his unit to be part of the permanent defense of Washington in August 1862. In the following January, the unit was reorganized into the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, and expected to remain in their defensive post. In May 1864, following the fighting in the Wilderness, General Grant ordered the “heavies” to reinforce his Army of the Potomac. On June 18, the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery underwent the heaviest loss of a single unit in a single battle: 242 killed, 372 wounded, and 1 missing out of 900 men total. Tufts and the other surviving members of the unit eventually became involved in the more quiet game of siege warfare in the trenches around Petersburg. He was killed in a small skirmish on October 2, 1864 on Squirrel Level Road and buried as an Unknown in Poplar Grove National Cemetery.

Vignette: A Tarheel for the Union: Hugh Hamilton, 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry by John Sickles (p. 27)
The confident soldier in the image walked from him home in Buncombe County, North Carolina through the Cumberland Gap shortly after it was captured by De Courcy’s Union forces in September 1863. Hugh Hamilton was a Unionist and enlisted in Company B of the 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry. Other Tarheel Unionists and “Galvanized Yankees” (Confederates who had been captured, taken the oath of allegiance to the United States, and enlisted to fight) made up the unit. On February 22, 1864, at Wireman’s Mill, Virginia, Hugh Hamilton was captured, although he was initially listed as a deserter for reasons that remain unclear. He was sent to prison camp at Belle Isle in Richmond, where he became ill with bronchitis and hepatitis; he was exchanged and sent to a Union hospital in Annapolis. Eventually recovering most of his health, he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps in Baltimore. He married there, and eventually returned to North Carolina after the war.

Passing in Review (pp. 28-29)
Six different publications are presented for review in this issues of Military Images. First is The Congressional Medal of Honor: the Names, the Deeds tells the story of the Medal and those who have been awarded it. September Blood: the Battle of Carnifex Ferry by Terry Lowry, who provides a regional history of the fight for Western Virginia at the start of the Civil War. Uniforms of the American Civil War by Philip Haythornthwaite was deemed to be a disappointment by the reviewer. While some errors were seen as small, the implication that the battleflag of the Army of Northern Virginia was used by all Confederate armies was a major flaw. Battle at Balls Bluff by Kim Bernard Holein was reviewed as a comprehensive work that describes the battle, the participants, its significance, relics and period items, and a case study of how preservationists, collectors, and others can work to preserve a historic site. Twenty Million Yankees by Donald Jackson and the editors of Time-Life Books is a volume in the Civil War series of books, and looks at the impact that the Civil War had on everyday life in the North and how those changes led to lasting impact on the Northern economy. Lastly, Great Civil War Heroes and Their Battles was edited by Walton Rawls, and provides an excellent look at the nostalgic publications found in cigarette cards and other sources published in the latter part of the 19th century.

Stragglers (pp. 30-31)
Two different sets of images are presented as “Stragglers” in this issue. The first is of Sergeant Herman L. Small of Company C, 6th Vermont Infantry. Two are portraits of the soldier, who enlisted as a private in October 1861 and left the service as a second lieutenant. His kepi is of particular interest and merited a close-up shot, as it has many non-regulation features attached to it. The other set of images consists of six cartes de visite that provide humorous views of Federal generals and one admiral such as “Little Mac” and “Uncle Sam’s Admirable Porter” in caricature form.

Back Image
A stirring portrait of a Union infantry soldier wearing his full pack (and white gloves). He strikes the pose he would take when preparing for a cavalry advance.

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Finding Aid: Winter 2016

The complete issue

Vol. XXXIV, No. 1
(60 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
A sixth-plate ruby tintype of John William Rhea of the 6th Texas Cavalry, who brandishes his D-Guard Bowie knife. Rick Brown collection.
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Table of Contents (p. 1)
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Editor’s Desk (p. 2)
The editor reflects on historian John O’Brien’s study of an iconic photograph of Gen. Robert E’ Lee and Traveller. Specifically, how the power of observation can profoundly impact historical accuracy. He notes, “History is improved by keen observation and scholarship. Take a close look at all the images published in this and other issues of MI. You just might change history.”
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Mail Call (p. 3)
Feedback includes a compliment to contributors for sharing their images, a new identification of a musket held by a South Carolinian in the Palmetto Faces gallery, and a suggestion to produce an article that examines the possible use of bugles as props.
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Passing in Review (p. 4)
From its early days as a hotbed of colonial rebellion to its role during the Civil War as a prolific supplier of men and materials, the six states of New England have served as a powerhouse for American ideals and revolutionary action. When it came to conformity of Civil War uniforms however, New England was no different than any other region of the country, North or South. In Rally Round the Flag—Uniforms of the Union Volunteers of 1861: The New England States, author and MI Senior Editor Ron Field examines the dizzying array of early war uniforms. A modified excerpt provides background on the short-lived Edmands hat.
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Lexington, Not Petersburg by John O’Brien (pp. 6-7)
An iconic image of Gen. Robert E. Lee astride his trusted horse Traveller has long thought to have been taken in Petersburg, Va., during the final months of the Civil War—a reasonable conclusion considering the content of the photograph. Author John O’Brien takes a fresh look at the image, and suggests a new location and date for the image, and identifies the photographers who made it.

Antebellum Warriors (p. 8)
Massachusetts militiaman Hosea Ballot Ellis sits in his full-dress uniform, which includes a pompon-topped dress cap adorned with the brass letter “H” surrounded by a laurel wreath. The letter may signify Ellis’s membership in the Hancock Light Guards, a militia company formed in Quincy in 1855.

The Honored Few (p. 9)
Brave. Aggressive. Fearless. Uncompromising. A writer once used these words to describe Milton Holland – leadership qualities that came into play when he and his regiment, the 5th U.S. Colored Infantry, went into action in Virginia along the front lines of Richmond and Petersburg in the autumn of 1864.

Men of Nerve: The 5th Massachusetts Cavalry in the Civil War by James Paradis (pp. 10-15)
Capt. Andrew F. Chapman filled a photo album with cartes de visite of his comrades in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, one of only seven African-American cavalry regiments in the entire Union army during the Civil War. Selected images from the album, published here for the first time, and from the Rick Carlile collection, illustrate the esprit de corps of its cadre of white officers. A profile of the regiment explores the role of the 5th during the final year of the Civil War.

Thoughts on Private Booth by J. Matthew Gallman (p. 16)
“When we attempt to understand history, we often find that empirical truths unfold alongside significant symbolic moments,” writes noted historian Gallman in this reflection on a portrait of Pvt. Booth of the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry. He adds, “And, to make things even more complicated, it is not at all unusual that our collective memory of events (both real and symbolic) differs from how participants understood what they were living through.” The image of this black trooper speaks to emerging themes of democracy, equality and the individualism of the American soldier.

Hidden Treasures: Inside the only museum dedicated solely to Civil War soldier images (pp. 17-27)
The first time Ronn Palm visited the red brick row house on 229 Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, Pa., the prominent archway in the entrance captured his attention. “Holy hell,” he though to himself, as the graceful shape of the building reminded him of a page in a carte de visite album. “That’s how my mind works, you know,” Palm said as he discussed the origins of the museum that bears his name. The building became home to Ronn Palm’s Museum of Civil War Images, and it is the only museum in America dedicated solely to soldier photographs. Representative examples from Palm’s extensive collections are highlighted here.

Photo Sleuth by Kurt Luther (pp. 29-30)
In “How Fellow Collectors, Field Photos and Muttonchops Identified an Unknown Officer,” Luther explains how two less commonly used, but equally valuable resources, namely fellow collectors and field photography, helped him identify 1st Lt.and brevet captain William Ball of the 93rd New York Infantry.

Assassination in Jackson County: A defender of Freedmen is murdered in Reconstruction Florida by William Mason-Palmer (pp. 32-34)
By 1865, the bullets had stopped flying and many of the soldiers in blue and gray marched home. But the residual effects of the war would continue for many years. Although Union veteran John Quincy Dickinson had escaped death on the battlefield, he faced new threats in his assignment to the Freedman’s Bureau in Jackson County, Fla., where he found himself in the crosshairs of the politically charged violence of the reconstruction effort.

Soldier, Author, Bugler: The extraordinary life and lasting military legacy of Oliver Wilcox Norton by Theodore J. Karle (pp. 35-37)
Modest and self-effacing Pennsylvania schoolteacher Oliver Wilcox Norton left behind one of America’s lasting military legacies. His Civil War service included the perils of combat, the joy of perfecting a classic bugle call and leading men of color into battle. Norton’s post-war writings contributed greatly to our understanding of the struggle for Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. Moreover, he helped compose “Taps,” the timeless bugle call honoring fallen soldiers. Lastly, the free thinking Norton served as an officer for two years in the 8th U.S. Colored Infantry.

Uniforms & History by Michael J. McAfee (pp. 38-39)
McAfee explores the Hungarian connection to the Union Army’s Model 1858 uniform hat. It was known by various nicknames, including the “Kossuth hat” in honor of Louis Kossuth (1802-1894) of Hungary, a freedom fighter celebrated across the antebellum U.S. but hardly remembered today.

“Conquer We Must, For Our Cause Is Just” by Kathleen Heyworth (pp. 40-41)
White attitudes towards African Americans varied greatly throughout the Union army during the Civil War, even within regiments. Such was the case in the 7th Illinois Infantry. The respected commander of the unit’s Company G, Capt. Henry Willard Allen, publicly supported the Emancipation Proclamation—an endorsement that cost him his life at the hand of one of his own men.

Riding the Rail, Revisited by Robert L. Kotchian (pp. 42-44)
25 years after a unique photo of a soldier holding an impossible large wood sword and seated astride an oversize “horse” made of timber made the rounds in books and film, Kotchian discovered its origins and connections to Old World punishments.

Stragglers (pp. 45-49)
This issue’s selection of distinctive and unique images from MI contributors is focused on Confederates. Included is Hiram Rathbone of the 62nd North Carolina Infantry, a soldier with a small Confederate national flag protruding from the upturned brim of his hat, a private who may hail from the Virginia Piedmont, John William Rhea of the 6th Texas Cavalry, Edmond R. Brown of the 11th Virginia Infantry, Zachariah Angel Blanton of the 18th Virginia Infantry, and a soldier wearing fur gauntlets and muffler.

The Backdrops of Benton Barracks by Mike Medhurst and Brian Boeve (pp. 50-52)
The bustling Union army’s training facility on the outskirts of St. Louis, Benton Barracks was capable of housing up to 30,000 soldiers at one time. Recruits from Missouri and elsewhere poured into the sprawling complex, where they learned the military arts. Many of these green troops were eager to send home photographs dressed in newly issued uniforms and equipment. And, they did not have to go far. Enterprising photographers used painted canvas backdrops to lure in the soldiers. This survey examines a half dozen examples used by these photographers to bring soldiers into their studios.

Dark Memories After Antietam by Scott Valentine (pp. 53-55)
“Soldier’s Heart” was one term used in the 19th century to describe a mental health condition known today as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Other terms were used by physicians, families and comrades as well, to define the changes that occurred to a man as a result of his Civil War experience, including “Melancholia,” “Nostalgia” and “Homesickness.” One man afflicted was Bernard F. Blakeslee of the 16th Connecticut Infantry. The horrors of Antietam and other wartime experiences left numerous physical injuries that healed over time, and a psychological injury from which he never recovered.

At Stones River, A Sword Lost and Found by Ronald S. Coddington (pp. 56-58)
In the maelstrom of fighting at Stones River, Tenn., on the last day of 1862, dense clouds of gun smoke hung like a pall over the bloody battlefield. At times, the smoke would drift apart to reveal a brief glimpse of the desperate struggle between blue and gray. At one such moment, a federal soldier observed a Union captain drop his sword, grab cartridges and a musket from a fallen comrade, and blast away at the enemy. The event would be recorded in an after-action report as a remarkable act of bravery. The captain, 54-year-old Richard M. Waterman of the 31st Indiana Infantry, was old enough to be the father of many in his command. The story of his participation in the battle and what happened to him afterwards is revealed.

The Last Shot (p. 60)
Collector Dan Binder shares an ambrotype of a bearded Union infantryman with a furrowed brow uses the bayonet of his Prussian Model 1809 Potsdam musket as a convenient hat stand. Three letters attached to the flat part of his cap reveal a C flanked by a pair of Gs. The letters appear reversed here, a limitation of the photographic processes of the time.

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Mistaken Identity?

Two court-martial cases that arose at the end of the Civil War—one in Albany, N.Y., and the other in Springfield, Ill.—reveal how some litigants relied on more than the spoken word to determine identity. The cases of Simon Burke and William Gemmill, both tried in September 1865, used photographs as a key method to identify suspected deserters.

To learn more, access “Mistaken Identity? Early Use of Photographic Evidence in Two Court-Martial Case for Desertion” by Elena Colón-Marrero in the Autumn 2015 issue of Military Images magazine.

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