Confederate Cavalry Jackets

[rmilstead]

Re: Confederate Cavalry Jackets

As a post script to the above:
It seems doubtful to me that the picture was taken in Richmond as I stated above. That comment was based upon information supplied by Kimmel who believed that the picture was a post war copy of a wartime ambrotype taken at the Rees studio in Richmond. The photo in the Maryland State Archives bears the mark of a Baltimore studio Bendan Brothers but the Bendans weren't working during the CW. However, during the period between Jenkins enlistment on May 1, 1863 at Bridgewater (VA?) and Hause's death on July 9, 1863 on the retreat from Gettysburg, as far as I can determine the 1st MD Cavalry was nowhere near Richmond. They were in the lower Shenandoah Valley and Company C was part of the group commanded by Harry Gilmor that struck out in advance of Ewell's Corps as it moved into Maryland at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign and ended up traveling as far as Chambersburg and Carlisle. The picture could have been taken in Winchester but given the group's ties into Maryland, Fredrick or perhaps Hagerstown are better possibilities.

Wherever they had it taken it is a interesting view of the unit in the time frame of Gettysburg. I must also say Daniel Grant Emory must have been proud of that overcoat to have been wearing it in June/July heat in the mid Atlantic!

Dick Milstead

[RobertK]

Re: Confederate Cavalry Jackets

Thanks, Ken. I had seen this photo on the cover and inside Robert Driver's book on the First and Second Maryland Cavalry and also on the Maryland Archives website, but no one seemed to have much information as to the specific identity of each man or the likely date of the photo until I came across the posts on this Forum. Thanks!

[RobertK]

Re: Confederate Cavalry Jackets

Hi, Dick,

Thanks for the thoughtful replies! It seems as if the IDs for the seated guys in the front row are pretty well nailed down. I heard from Rob Bruno with his thoughts about the standing guys in the back row, but to me it seems that Charlie Kettlewell is the man on the right, and, if George Jenkins is seated in the front center, the other two can only be the Neale brothers. While they don't look too much alike, lots of brothers don't. I also noticed in studying the photo yesterday that both the standing guys center and on the left have wavy hair. None of the others do, except for Lafayette Hause. I also agree with your assessment that if these two are the Neale brothers, it's likely that Edmund Clarence Neale, the older one--and a sergeant, having served a year in the "Maryland Guard," Company B, 21st Virginia Infantry, if the one in the frock coat, while his younger brother, Wilfred Neale is on the left in the jacket.

As to when and where the original photos was made, it remains a mystery. Certainly pre-War, there were photographers in some Virginia towns, in addition to Richmond, but how many were still in operation by 1862-63? As to the date of the picture, we certainly have a terminus ante quem of July 8 or 9, 1863, the death date for Lafayette Hause. We can push that back a bit since the regiment was likely too busy for studio photographs from the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign. Also, it can't be earlier than May 1, 1863, since that's when George Jenkins joined the outfit in Bridgewater, Virginia.

Thanks again, Dick, for your help in sorting this out. As always, more questions pop up with each new answer!

Best wishes,

Robert Keeler

[Jimmayo]

Re: Confederate Cavalry Jackets

The regimental history of the 9th Va. Cav said in the Jan, 65 report that arms and equipment were lacking. If you ever want to arm yourself like William Lunsford did take your P-53 and shorten it like this one.

[MuleyGil]

Re: Confederate Cavalry Jackets

"As the old saying goes, 'You give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. You teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.'"

The way I heard it, "You give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. You teach him how to fish and he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day."