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Finding Aid: Summer 2021

A complete table of contents for the Summer 2021 issue of Military Images magazine, and information about how to purchase single issues and subscriptions.

Vol. XXXIX, No. 3
(80 pages)

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Inside

Cover image
A sixth-plate tintype from the Brian Boeve Collection pictures a musician with his bugle.

Table of Contents (p. 1)

Editor’s Desk (p. 2)
In “Musings on Showcasing,” the editor discusses the first word in the publication’s motto: Showcase. Interpret. Preserve.

Mail Call (pp. 3-4)
Feedback includes praise for RickWolfe’s profile of Everton and Seymour Conger, Jeremy Rowe’s story about “The Little Sack of Flower That Won the West,” Elizabeth Topping’s exploration of color in Civil War era photography, and more.

Military Anthropologist (p. 4)
A survey of newspapers from May through November 1863 reveals how many times the press referenced the Siege of Vicksburg and the Battle of Gettysburg.

Passing in Review (p. 6)
The three-volume Black Lives in Focus series by Ross J. Kelbaugh is reviewed: Part I: Colonial-Antebellum America, Part II: The Civil War & Reconstruction, and Part III: Jim Crow to Barack Obama.

Photo Sleuth by Kurt Luther (pp. 8-10)
In “Hampton’s Battery at Gettysburg and Puerto Rico,” Luther traces the backstory behind a post-war reunion photo taken at Gettysburg by W.H. Tipton. The image is unique due to the presence of Civil War veterans and National Guardsmen—all connected to Pittsburgh, Pa.

Antebellum Warriors (p. 12)
A quarter-plate ambrotype features a militia corporal with an artillery sword. The style of his uniforms asks more questions than it answers.

The Honored Few (p. 14)
Sgt. Maj. Herbert Elon Farnsworth of the 10th New York Cavalry received the Medal of Honor for volunteering to cross dangerous ground to stop a Union artillery battery from firing on its own troops—a case of friendly fire.

Most Hallowed Ground by Perry M. Frohne (p. 16)
Long before Capt. Emmet Crawford of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry was murdered while he chased Apache Chief Geronimo in Mexico, he served in the Civil War with the 71st Pennsylvania Infantry. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Citizenry (p. 18)
In “Author of a Southern Anthem,” we meet James Ryder Randall of Baltimore, Md. In April 1861, he penned the poem “Maryland, My Maryland” after learning of the failure of pro-secession rioters to stop the 6th Massachusetts Infantry as it marched through his hometown. The poem was soon set to music and became a popular tune with Confederate soldiers and Southern citizens. It was the Maryland state song from 1939-2021.

Buglers (pp. 21-32)
A gallery of 31 images collected in collaboration with Editor Dale Niesen of the Facebook group “The Image Collector” and contributions by collectors, reviewed by Contributing Editor Chris Nelson, is focused on soldiers pictured with bugles and trumpets. All are Union musicians.

MMB: A concise history of the unconventional, untethered and unruly warriors of the Mississippi Marine Brigade by Paul Russinoff (pp. 34-42)
One of the Civil War’s most novel fighting forces, the Mississippi Marine Brigade, began its life as a fleet of rams, the brainchild of civil engineer Charles Ellet, Jr. After his death from an infected wound, command passed to his brother, Alfred, who built the MMB. This is its story.

The Compact: In 1864, a group of soldiers at an army hospital pondered their futures. They pledged to meet 20 years later to find out. By Ronald S. Coddington (pp. 44-54)
At the U.S.A. General Hospital in York, Pa., a dozen soldiers, including three hospital stewards, planned a reunion at Niagara Falls in 1884 to find out where life took them after the war ended. What happened to them, and the fate of the reunion, is revealed in this account.

“Lost an Arm in Freedom’s Fray” by Charles T. Joyce (pp. 55-62)
About 25,000 Union soldiers suffered amputations during the Civil War. These limbless men re-entered society, some faring well and others not. Here, we examine seven men who lost an arm as a result of the Battle of Gettysburg. Among them is artilleryman John F. Chase, who barely escaped when a canister charge exploded prematurely. Surgeons counted 48 shrapnel wounds on his body.

On the Art, Science and technology Behind the Modern Coloring of Images, a Q&A with Matt Loughrey of My Colorful Past (pp. 63-65)
“Coloring imagery is as old as photography itself,” notes Matt Loughrey, owner of My Colorful Past, a company that colorizes and adds motion to historic images. In this interview, he describes his process and how his work is rooted in research and history.

Marcus Aurelius Root Wrote a Photographer’s Handbook in 1864. It Includes 6 Tips That Can Help You Better Appreciate 19th Century Portraits. By Ronald S. Coddington (pp. 66-67)
Pioneer daguerreotypist Marcus A. Root believed photography was an art form, not purely a mechanical process. His handbook, The Camera, and the Pencil, makes the point in several ways, including these tips.

Participants in an Early Commemoration at Gettysburg’s National Cemetery? By Elizabeth A. Topping (pp. 68-70)
A carte de visite of a Union officer wearing a sash and two ladies dressed in Goddess of Liberty costumes taken by Gettysburg, Pa., photographer Levi H. Mumper is a clue to a little remembered event that took place on July 4, 1865.

The USCC at Camp Letterman by Elizabeth A. Topping (pp. 72-74)
A group of soldiers, men and women gathered at the United States Christian Commission station in Gettysburg, Pa., reveals details not previously explored. The station operated from July to November 1863.

Material Culture by Frank Graves (pp. 75)
In “Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver, early Fluted Cylinder,” Graves shares a tintype of a soldier holding the revolver, and provides details about its fluted cylinder, comparing it to the more popular rebated cylinder.

Behind the Backdrop: Origins, artistry and photographers by Adam Ochs Fleischer (pp. 76-77)
In “A Backdrop Connected to Portraits of Quantrill’s Men,” Fleischer examines the distinctive painted canvas with a vessel and ruins visible in two photographs by Thomas D. Saunders of Lexington, Mo. This background matches other images of men who served with William Quantrill’s raiders.

Stragglers: Distinctive Images from MI contributors (pp. 78-79)
Included are portraits of Brig. Gen. Alfred Jefferson Vaughan, Jr., who started the war as a captain in the 13th Tennessee Infantry and went on to suffer the loss of a leg during the Atlanta Campaign, and William G. Edwards of the 14th Mississippi Infantry, who suffered the amputation of an arm after at Spring Hill, Tenn., an action leading up to the Battle of Franklin.

The Last Shot (p. 80)
A quarter-plate ruby ambrotype pictures Pvt. James Lawrence Secrest of Mississippi’s Jeff Davis Legion of Cavalry. Secrest is seated on his horse, Sela.