It seems somehow appropriate that while at the Franklin Civil War Show we should scan this carte de visite of Tennessee’s Samuel “Champ” Ferguson. In August 1865, he posed for this portrait with his guards from the 9th Michigan Cavalry in Nashville for photographer C.C. Hughes. Ferguson, a Confederate guerrilla leader in Tennessee, is the tall man in the middle. A military tribunal convicted him on 53 counts of murder, and he was hanged in October 1865.
Ferguson was one of many Southerners who stood before military tribunals. The best known is Henry Wirz of Andersonville notoriety. For more information, read this article: https://www.nps.gov/ande/
The show was great for Military Images: Hanging our with old friends, making news ones, scanning some incredible images and setting a one-day record for subscriptions. From the team at MI, a big thanks to all!
