Tag: Seminary Ridge Museum

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The Autumn 2026 Issue

A complete table of contents for the Autumn 2026 issue of Military Images magazine, and information about how to purchase single issues and subscriptions.

Vol. XLIV, No. 4
(80 pages)

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Inside

Cover
Gettysburg’s Lutheran Theological Seminary photographed by Mathew B. Brady’s team in July 1863.

Table of Contents (p. 1)

Editor’s Desk (p. 2)
A visit to Gettysburg offers hope for the future as a new generation of collectors embraces Civil War photographs and the stories they preserve.

Mail Call (pp. 3-4)
Feedback includes praise from new and veteran subscribers, a request for information about a Sanitary Fair statuette, the identification of a Tennessee officer, and more.

Military Anthropologist (p. 4)
William F. Fox’s Civil War data identifies nine Union infantry regiments that lost more than 100 men killed or mortally wounded in a single battle.

Passing in Review (p. 6)
Reviews of new books on Civil War nurse Cornelia Hancock by Carolyn Ivanoff and Don Troiani and Ron Field’s detailed study of Union and Confederate uniforms.

Photo Sleuth by Stephen Berry and Kurt Luther (pp. 8-9)
A composite photograph of South Carolina legislators reveals the power, politics, racism, and violence surrounding Prince Rivers during Reconstruction.

Antebellum Warriors (p. 10)
Marine officer William Stokes Boyd helped lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable aboard the USS Niagara in 1858, linking Britain and America.

Most Hallowed Ground (p. 12)
Augustus G. Kellogg fought aboard the USS Powhatan at Fort Fisher before embarking on a distinguished 26-year career in the U.S. Navy.

The Honored Few by Evan Phifer (pp. 14-16)
Wounded twice at Gettysburg, Henry S. Huidekoper refused to leave his regiment and later received the Medal of Honor for his courage under fire.

The Citizenry by Richard Look (p. 18)
Two women posed in a Union soldier’s uniform in 1863, connecting their portraits to a Massachusetts family touched deeply by the Civil War.

Of Arms and Men by Phil Spaugy (pp. 20-22)
Union soldiers rallied behind a rail barricade on Seminary Ridge, buying precious time during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg’s Lutheran Seminary in the Line of Fire by Ronald S. Coddington (pp. 24-32)
A Brady photograph reveals Gettysburg’s Lutheran Seminary as a battlefield observation post and hospital during three days of fighting in July 1863.

Within These Walls: Gettysburg’s Seminary Hospital (pp. 34-47)
Portraits and personal accounts reveal the Union soldiers, surgeons, and nurses who experienced Gettysburg’s Seminary hospital during and after the battle.

The Civil War’s First Amputee by Jan K. Herman (pp. 51-52) 
Moses S. Herrick suffered the surgical removal of his foot in an accidental shooting inside the U.S. Capitol, becoming the Civil War’s first documented amputee.

Faces of the Sultana by Gene Eric Salecker (pp. 53-57)
Portraits and stories reveal the soldiers, survivors, and victims of the Sultana disaster, which claimed an estimated 1,164 lives in April 1865.

Grim Reunion at Galveston: A Father and Son on Opposite Sides of the War by Curt Robbins (pp. 61-63)
A Confederate father finds his mortally wounded Union son after the Battle of Galveston, a tragic reunion of family divided by Civil War.

Practical Stewardship for the Modern Collector by Kevin Canberg(pp. 64-65)
How collectors can inventory, plan, and protect their collections while preparing artifacts for the next generation of caretakers.

Different Journeys, Shared Passion by Larry West, Ross J. Kelbaugh, Dr. Robert Drapkin, and Greg French (pp. 66-69)
Four collectors share the discoveries, stories, and unexpected journeys behind their passion for 19th-century photography.

Material Culture by Ron Field (pp. 70-71)
Explore the distinctive Havelock hats worn by Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin troops and the manufacturers who supplied them during the Civil War.

Women of War by Melissa A. Wynn (pp. 72-73)
Martha Coston perfected a pyrotechnic signal system that helped Union Navy ships communicate, enforce the blockade, and coordinate operations.

Behind the Backdrop by Buck Zaidel (pp. 74-75)
A portrait reveals how backdrops, military gear, personal objects, and even a pair of worn boots helped photographers tell a soldier’s story.

Vignette by Ronald S. Coddington (p. 76)
Seth Ledyard Phelps helped build the Union’s Brown Water Navy and fought at Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, and in the Vicksburg Campaign.

Stragglers (p. 78)
Three images reveal a fallen Mississippi soldier, an unidentified USCT infantryman, and soldiers punished in barrel shirts.

The Last Shot (p. 80)
A Union infantryman poses as if advancing into battle, armed with a converted musket and Colt revolver in this dramatic Civil War tintype.

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New Exhibit! Sacrifice on Seminary Ridge

After months of planning, we are thrilled to announce Sacrifice on Seminary Ridge, a special exhibition opening October 9 at the Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center in Gettysburg.

The exhibit uses wartime portraits and personal accounts to tell the stories of Union soldier-patients, surgeons, and nurses whose lives intersected within the walls of the Lutheran Theological Seminary during and after the Battle of Gettysburg. Some fought in the desperate struggle around the Seminary on July 1, 1863. Some entered its hospital grievously wounded. Others worked amid overwhelming suffering to care for them.

The exhibition grew out of a collaboration between the Seminary Ridge Museum and Military Images. Paul Russinoff, a Military Images senior editor and member of the museum’s board, originated the idea and played a key role in making it a reality.

Sacrifice on Seminary Ridge will be on view October 9–December 6, 2026. An opening-night reception will mark its debut.

We are grateful to Fleischer’s Auctions, the exhibition’s exclusive sponsor, for helping make this project possible.

The exhibit also demonstrates the power of the Civil War portrait collecting community. Images were generously shared by Scott Hann, Scott Hilts, Charles T. Joyce, Jeff Kowalis, Jason and Mark Krausz, C. Paul Loane, Faye and Ed Max, Robert May, Ronn Palm, Jim Rivest, Paul Russinoff, Brian White, and Ronald S. Coddington, with assistance from Dale R. Niesen. Additional portraits came from the Adams County Historical Society and The Liljenquist Family Collection at the Library of Congress. By bringing together these long-scattered faces, the community has allowed the soldier-patients, surgeons, and nurses of the Seminary hospital to stand together once more.

The Autumn 2026 issue of Military Images will feature two related articles: Within These Walls, a collection of portraits and accounts featured in the exhibit, and In the Line of Fire, an investigation of a memorable Mathew Brady photograph and what it reveals about the building and grounds in the battle’s aftermath.

Military Images Editor and Publisher Ronald S. Coddington will speak about the project at the Center for Civil War Photography’s conference in Gettysburg, October 2–4.

For more information, contact militaryimages@gmail.com.

Register now to attend the opening (free): Friday, October 9, 2026, 6:00-8:30 p.m., Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center in Gettysburg: https://www.seminaryridgemuseum.org/events/sacrificeonseminaryridge

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Faces of Gettysburg’s Seminary Hospital: A Research Update

One Friday last January, I drove to Gettysburg to visit the Seminary Ridge Museum and met with Codie Eash, the Director of Education and Interpretation, and Paul Russinoff, a Military Images senior editor and a member of the museum’s board. Paul organized the meeting to discuss an idea—an exhibit of images of surgeons, patients, and attendants who were on the seminary grounds used as a temporary hospital during the three-day battle.

The meeting was a success, and it kicked off a larger effort to locate original, wartime, photographic portraits of those who were there. The project began with a remarkable dataset: a documented list of 498 patients treated at the hospital during and after the Battle of Gettysburg, along with registries of 147 attendants and 30 surgeons who cared for them—675 unique individuals.

Here’s an update on our progress.

The first and most important phase of the project relied on the generosity of collectors. Through social media, personal outreach, and the support of the Civil War photography community, collectors shared images from their collections and helped identify individuals connected to the hospital. Their contributions formed the foundation of this effort.

As the project evolved, we explored new research methods alongside traditional approaches. Using Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models, we compared the 675-person list against thousands of identified Civil War photographs. We searched about 6,600 records of Union images published in Military Images and analyzed more than 9,000 images in the Library of Congress’s Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs. Using ChatGPT to assist our efforts, we were able to compare the datasets, surface potential matches, and direct our attention to promising leads that were then verified through traditional historical research.

To date, we have identified 25 unique individuals connected to the Seminary Hospital for whom original wartime photographs are known to survive. Some are represented by multiple views.

This work would not have been possible without the efforts of many individuals. In addition to Paul and Codie, thanks tot he collecting community who responded to the call: Sid Dreese, Scott Hahn, Scott Hilts, Chuck Joyce, Paul Loane, Ronn Palm, Jim Rivest, and Tom Liljenquist and the staff of the Library of Congress.

While our analysis of major image databases is largely complete, the search continues. We will continue to crowdsource through social media, collector networks, descendants, and institutional contacts in hopes of locating additional photographs.

It is not too late to participate! Here’s the spreadsheet.

The exhibit is expected to open at the Seminary Ridge Museum this September. The opening is planned to coincide with the annual symposium of the Center for Civil War Photography, which will be held in Gettysburg, where the project will be shared with attendees—and, of course, with a wider audience of historians, collectors, and Civil War enthusiasts.

Onward!

Ronald S. Coddington
Editor & Publisher