Our cover story traces a 45-year-old crime well known inside the Civil War image collecting community: The 1978 theft of Herb Peck’s Images. His widow, Felicity Peck, and his friend and associate Bruce Jackson have been working the case with law enforcement to recover the images since Herb’s death in 2004. The cold case has heated up in recent years, due in part to a “Stolen” advertisement place in Military Images in 2017.
Another feature is the story behind an often published portrait of two West Point-educated lieutenants, James Barroll Washington and George Armstrong Custer. They had an unplanned reunion at Army of the Potomac headquarters after Washington, an aide to Confederate Gen. Joe Johnston, fell into Union hands.
Other features: Brendan C. Hamilton profiles Frank N. Sheets of the 29th Indiana Infantry, who proved a model aide to Brig. Gen. Richard W. Johnson until his death at the Battle of Chickamauga. Civil War veteran Capt. Henry Haymond wrote a poignant letter of advice to his young great-grandson in 1920. Frank Jastrzembski examines a trio of military men—Giuseppe Garibaldi, György Klapka, and Jean Napoleon Zerman—who were high on the list for Union generals but they did not get commissions. Our Q&A with Rick Carlile reveals his obsessive collecting genes, passion for cartes de visite, and more.
Our regular columns: Passing in Review by Chris Nelson highlights Groundbreakers: The History of the Northern Virginia Relic Hunters Association by Stephen W. Sylvia and Nancy Dearing Rossbacher. Kurt Luther’s Photo Sleuth reveals his research to find a portrait of 1st Lt. Presley Oldham Craig, the namesake of Fort Craig, one in a ring of 68 defensive forts surrounding wartime Washington, D.C. Antebellum Warriors showcases and ambrotype of a militia company lines up along a road in front of a house in Angelica, N.Y. Most Hallowed Ground tells the story of Capt. Sanford Cobb Kellogg served as an aide on the staff of his uncle, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. The Honored Few profiles Francis Edwin “Frank” Brownell, who received the Medal of Honor for his role in the death of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth of the 11th New York Infantry. The Citizenry by Elizabeth A. Topping examines Civil War era portraits of individuals posed with empty chairs memorialize the sitter. Fakes, Forgeries and Frauds by Perry M. Frohne is a case study about how a blacklight reveals a modern forgery of an Abraham Lincoln carte de visite.
There are more columns! Material Culture by Anthony F. Gero highlights the distinctive California militia uniform of 1864-1865 featured blue cuffs and collars. Stragglers portraits include a Pennsylvania Bucktail, soldiers and civilians at recruiting headquarters in Philadelphia, and a Confederate lieutenant. Vignette by Scott Valentine tells the story of Asst. Surg. Benjamin Walter Carpenter who served in the 2nd and 9th Vermont infantries, and as chief medical officer at Camp Douglas in Chicago. The Last Shot showcases a half-plate ambrotype picturing Company D of the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.) posed outdoors with a variety of weapons.
And my column, Editor’s Desk, introduces a new online resource of identified soldier, sailor, and other wartime images that have been published in Military Images magazine since 1979.
Always happy to receive your feedback! Drop me an email.
Ronald S. Coddington
Editor & Publisher
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