The Montage
By Tom Glass Patriotic-themed carte de visite montages generate little interest among today’s collectors. Such composites featuring portraits of generals, admirals and wartime political leaders are dismissed as “fillers” used
Category: 2021 Winter
The Augusta or Portland, Maine, Backdrops
By Adam Ochs Fleischer Two backdrops unique to Maine portraits have always been of particular interest to me because of their distinctive appearance. While generally well known in the collecting
Fifers
The relationship of this infantry fifer’s firmly planted feet to his turned head engaging with the camera creates dynamic tension. It leaves an impression that his body is about to
Uniforms of the Granite State
By Ron Field Period photography showing the variety of uniforms and headgear worn by New Hampshire soldiers during the first year or so of the Civil War is of great
Hussar Influence
A mounted trooper wears an early French dragoon-style helmet with a brass visor and scale chinstrap distinguished by an 1820-style federal eagle on the crest. The uniform suggests a Hussar
Greenback Pay Day
By Mike Fitzpatrick As a result of the war, the federal government suspended specie payments to maintain its bullion reserves. The move forced Congress in 1861 to authorize the U.S.
Identifying an Officer Pictured in a Library of Congress Negative
By Kurt Luther In my first “Photo Sleuth” column in 2015, I wrote about the power of combining perseverance and luck. After years of fruitless searching for photos of my
Calmness and Carbines
Observers of a Confederate charge against Union troops during the early morning of Oct. 7, 1864, were in for a surprise. The rebels had just driven them from a position
Team Frailey on the Quaker City
Leonard August Frailey’s first gig as a naval officer was a plum assignment. In August 1864, authorities dispatched the newly minted acting assistant paymaster to the sidewheel steamer Quaker City.
Palms of Victory
Mary Dines made her way to the front of a gathering at a Freedmen’s camp in Washington, D.C., her knees nervously shaking. She joined her fellow inhabitants, all dressed in
