In February, I attended the South Boston Civil War and Military Show in South Boston. It’s a wonderful venue featuring collectors from Virginia and North Carolina, as well as area dealers. The Military Images table was set up just inside one of the main entrances. The table on the opposite side of the entrance belonged to Craig Wofford. On the first day of the show, I learned that Craig had an image and artifacts he wanted to share with me for possible inclusion in the magazine.
Little did I know that the next day he would share the cover image for this issue! The half-plate, pristine ambrotype of Brig. Gen. Evander McIver Law and his military family has been with Craig and his wife Carol for years, along with Law’s field glass and other relics. Thus began a journey of a couple of months to research and write the story of Law’s rise from a Citadel graduate to militia captain to Confederate brigadier, who took over command from a wounded Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood about a half-hour after the assault began on Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
We typically focus our summer issue on Gettysburg, and this year is no exception. You’ll find a story by Paul Russinoff on his theory of the iconic three prisoners at Gettysburg photo, and Jack Hurov’s story of Nathaniel Bryant Colman of the 17th Maine Infantry. Colman served as a hospital steward during the Battle of Gettysburg and went on to become his regiment’s assistant surgeon.
Other features include the backstory of a photograph of escaped Union prisoners of war and their guides by Steve Procko, an account of the life and times of Confederate ordnance officer Edward Willoughby “Will” Anderson and his postwar advocacy for Confederate burials at Arlington National Cemetery, and a reflection on the demise of Civil War Times magazine by one of its earliest editors, William C. “Jack” Davis.
We also have a brand new column, “Of Arms and Men,” by Phil Spaugy. Phil’s inaugural effort highlights an image of a trooper in the 4th Ohio Cavalry. Melissa A. Winn’s second column in the “Women of War” series highlights the life and times of caregiver Cordelia Harvey, who served as Wisconsin’s First Lady for all of 94 days. Kurt Luther’s “Photo Sleuth” revisits the well-known before and after portraits of a USCT drummer boy with a new bit of information—the name of the photographer who made the images. Scott Valentine’s “Vignette” profiles a New York cavalryman who suffered saber cuts during a fight in the Shenandoah Valley in the summer of 1864. In “Material Culture,” Richard M. Milstead, PhD, discusses a private purchase jacket connected to a soldier in the 5th Maine Infantry. In “Last Shot,” Richard Look shares an image and story of Capt. Henry Warren Smith, who arrested Mary Surratt and Lewis Powell after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. In “The Citizenry,” Elizabeth A. Topping contextualizes a carte de visite of two women who participated in the U.S. Sanitary Commission’s Albany Army Relief Bazaar.
Our other regular columns are also full of new information. “Military Anthropologist” visualizes USCT troops commissioned and enlisted by state. “Passing in Review” highlights Voices of the Army of the Potomac (Casemate Publishing) by Vincent L. Burns. “Antebellum Warriors” showcases a half-plate ambrotype of an assistant surgeon in the Dan Binder Collection. “Most Hallowed Ground” focuses on Capt. Charles Wilkes of Trent Affair fame. “The Honored Few” recounts how 1st Lt. William Russell Parnell saved a soldier and received the Medal of Honor. Our “Stragglers” section features a pair of poignant post-mortem images and a tintype of a soldier that once was attached to his grave marker.
I trust you find something of interest!
Ronald S. Coddington
Editor & Publisher
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