Very young officer!

[FC Barlow]

Re: Very young officer!

I think this is our man! His age and his dates of service and promotion match up with Eric Mink's bio of him. And his association with Nelson Miles makes sense because the 2nd NYHA was part of Miles's brigade in 1864.

The bio doesn't list a date of death or burial.

Regards,

Todd

[FC Barlow]

Re: Very young officer!

Zalinski died in 1909 and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY.

He was the military attache to Russia while he was working with the Dynamite Gun Company, which he owned and operated. He was forced to resign from the Army as a Captain in 1894 and died of a lingering illness in 1909.

Also - it seems our young officer was friends with painter Winslow Homer during the CW and Homer donated many of his works to Zalinski after the war. Zalinski's grandson donated these paintings to the National Gallery of Art in DC in 1996. There is also a good chance that the Zalinski family has the infamous belt that we are all so interested in - maybe more!

http://www.heliograph.com/trmgs/trmgs1/dynamite.shtml

http://www.tfaoi.com/newsmu/nmus38b.htm

[Bill Cross]

Distracted with the details

What all of you have failed to notice in your eagerness to have a Federal officer wearing a VA sword belt is the danged butterknife itself. This is not your great-grandfather's foot officer sword, but a style from an earlier era. I am posting a close-up of the hilt from the photo of the young officer (the one in B&W) and a close-up of a militia sword (in color to the right). Notice the s-shaped curve of the hilt, which echoes Rev War and Napoleonic War sword and sabre hilts. The 1850 foot officer sword had evolved to a rounded guard (3rd photo), while the 1860 staff officer sword is almost a baton and not a weapon (last photo on the right).

It should be pointed out that the demand for swords on both sides once the conflict got beyond the initial call-ups far out-stripped the supply of domestic-made models, so that imports (especially from France) were very popular. I carry a French import model that is generic and not identified to any person, which I purchased at a reasonable price from the dealer of the militia model (the 1850 and 1860 models are borrowed from Eric Heller's shop's web site and are intended only to illustrate my point).

This doesn't tell us whether the young man was wearing a militia sword or a captured CSA battlefield trophy, but it does indicate to me that the belt and the sword are both pre-war in origin, so that it's likely militia. That doesn't mean it's not VA issue, but the sword and the belt should not be judged separate of one another.

[theknapsack]

Re: Very young officer!

Zalinski died in 1909 and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY.

He was the military attache to Russia while he was working with the Dynamite Gun Company, which he owned and operated. He was forced to resign from the Army as a Captain in 1894 and died of a lingering illness in 1909.

http://www.heliograph.com/trmgs/trmgs1/dynamite.shtml

http://www.tfaoi.com/newsmu/nmus38b.htm

You said he resigned as captain. The Website that Bob Williams posted said he resigned as captain. Out of your two websites the former said he resigned as captain. But, the National Gallery of Art museum said he was a Major.
Any thoughts? Perhaps the Museum messed that up? I'm not sure. Just confused me. The Sword indeed does look like a Napoleonic Sword - or around that era.
Thanks for the good post, Bill.

[FC Barlow]

Re: Very young officer!

I'm sure the museum messed it up on the press release. Everything else matches perfectly.

[dusty27]

Re: Very young officer!

Todd, pure conjecture here but, I work at the National Gallery of Art and my guess is that the "Major" in the following exerpt from your referenced website could be explained by either Homer making a mistake in the letter of conveyance or maybe there was a demotion or a brevet in Zalinski's career? I don't know, just offering up some possibilities.

Major Edmund L. G. Zalinski, met Homer during the early days of the Civil War and was the recipient of these sketches in 1904, along with a handwritten letter of conveyance, which was also given to the Gallery.

I have the catalogue at home, maybe it has the letter included. I will check and post results this evening.

[FC Barlow]

Re: Very young officer!

Mike:

I work at The George Washington University, just down Pennsylvania Avenue. We're practically neighbors!

Todd

[Dignann]

The Major was a Captain

From page 1068 of Francis B. Heitman's Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army , Vol. I (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1903):

Zalinski, Edmund Louis. Poland. NY. 2 lt 2NY art 23 Feb 1865; hon must out 29 Sept 1865; 2 lt 5 art 23 Feb 1866; 1 lt 1 Jan 1867; capt 9 Dec 1887; retd 3 Feb 1894.


From pages 655-654 of John Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds. Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography , Vol. VI (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889)

Zalinski, Edmund Louis Gray, soldier, b. in Kurnick, Prussian Poland, 13 Dec., 1849. He came to the United States in 1853, attended school at Seneca Falls, N.Y., until 1861, and subsequently was at the high-school in Syracuse, N.Y., until 1863. At the age of fifteen he entered the army, serving at first as a volunteer aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Nelson A. Miles from October 1864, till February 1865. He was commissioned 2d lieutenant in the 2d New York heavy artillery in February, 1865, having been recommended for the appointment by his superior officers for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Hatcher's Run, Va. After being commissioned he continued on Gen. Miles's staff until after the surrender Gen. Robert E. Lee, participating in all of the engagements up to that date. He was mustered out of the volunteer service in September, 1865, and recommended for an appointment in the regular army, where he was commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the 5th U.S. artillery, 23 Feb., 1866, and by regular promotion became 1st lieutenant in January, 1867, and captain, 9 Dec., 1887. From 1872 till 1876 he was on duty at the Massachusetts institute of technology as professor of military science. He was graduated at the Artillery school, Fort Monroe, Va., 1 May, 1880, and at the school of submarine mining, Willet's point, N.Y., in July of the same year. Capt. Zalinski's name is widely known in connection with the development of the pneumatic dynamite torpedo-gun. He has invented the electrical fuse and other devises for the practical application of the weapon, and has also devised a method for exact sight-allowance to be made for deviation due to wind in the use of rifled artillery and small-arms. His other inventions include an intrenching-tool, a ramrod-bayonet, and a telescopic sight for artillery.

Eric

[marine05]

Re: Very young officer!

Sometimes officers were advanced on the retired list to the next higher rank. It was a fairly common practice up to the early stages of WWII.

Also OOD was the CO in time of absence of that officer, especially after normal duty hours.

As far as the origin of the sword, there is a paragraph in the new book, A Glorious Fourth, that states after Pickett's Charge that some Federal Officers were giving away swords that had been surrendered to them as the practice was for officers to surrender their sword to and equal or senior officer. In fact there is one accurately displayed scene toward the end of the film Gettysburg that shows a Federal Field Grade Officer clutching about a 1/2 dozen swords. In some cases officers were allowed to retain their side arms even while being marched back to the rear as POWs!!

YOS,

DJM

I'm sure the museum messed it up on the press release. Everything else matches perfectly.

[hardtack1864]

Re: Very young officer!

Well, what I want to know is how this 16 year old became an officer and stayed one? :sarcastic

[79th N.Y.S.M.]

Re: Very young officer!

Did become an officer and stay one? I heard talk of "officer of the day"?

[FC Barlow]

Re: Very young officer!

He was promoted to Second Lt. in February 1865, dated to January 1865. See previous post and bio. Officer of the Day is not a rank, its a position, usually assigned to specific officers.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Very young officer!

The Officer of the Day rotated on a schedule,a duty roster,and was based on the health and availabilty of that officer. ie, alive and able to serve. I think it was relegated to junior officers...a pecking order thing. If that is so then it fits with the character in this thread.

[marine05]

Re: Very young officer!

I would imagine that at the time he would not admit to being 16 or underage for service. Even now there are service personnel that are underage, getting fewer due to the technology available. Many that were underage admitted to it after completion of active duty.

Did this young man admit to being underage at the time? If that's the case then his unit must have worked some magic with his records.

s/f

DJM

[Dignann]

Re: Very young officer!

I have no doubt that his superiors were aware of his age. The info found in Phisterer is taken directly from the N.Y. Adjutant General's files, which are in turn taken from from the service records. The fact that Zalinski served first as a volunteer aid and proved his mettle at Hatcher's Run obviously led to his commission. Of course, hitching his wagon to a rising star like Miles I'm sure helped with the unusual promotion.

Eric