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A Confederate Casualty at Missionary Ridge, a Post-Mortem, and More

Sixth-plate ambrotype by an unidentified 
photographer. Kenneth Perryman Collection.
Sixth-plate ambrotype by an unidentified photographer. Kenneth Perryman Collection.

The 45th Tennessee Infantry and other Confederate forces occupied Tunnel Hill along the northern edge of Missionary Ridge on the morning of Nov. 25, 1863. Though they successfully repelled piecemeal enemy attacks in this sector, the Union ultimately won the larger Battle of Missionary Ridge. One of the casualties of the Tunnel Hill fight is pictured here: Samuel Davidson Wood, a 17-year-old private in Company B. Sent to the prisoner of war camp in Rock Island, Ill., he spent the rest of the war in captivity. Following his release in May 1865, Wood returned to his home state, married, and raised a family. He died in 1891 at age 45.

Ninth-plate ambrotype by an unidentified photographer. Brian Schara Collection.
Ninth-plate ambrotype by an unidentified photographer. Brian Schara Collection.

A Union man with an Abe Lincoln style beard shows off his cockade for the camera.

This image graced the grave marker of Pvt. Ferdinand Minor Reese at Second Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Needham Township, Ind. Michigan-born Reese lived with his parents and siblings on a farm in Marietta, Ind., when he enlisted in Company E of the 79th Indiana Infantry in September 1862. At some point around the time of the Battle of Stones River, Reese fell ill. In June 1863, he transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC). He never recovered his health and died at the army hospital in New Albany, Ind., in October 1864 at the age of 19. A note accompanying the image, which shows Reese in his VRC uniform, explains that it adorned his original marker. After a storm broke the stone, a new marker, without the image, replaced it.

Sixth-plate tintypes by an unidentified photographer. Rich Jahn Collection.
Sixth-plate tintypes by an unidentified photographer. Rich Jahn Collection.

In this poignant post-mortem portrait, a deceased boy, his face wasted away, cradles a photograph of three soldiers. The relationship between the boy and the children behind him to the military men is unknown.

Stereo card by an unidentified photographer. Mike Higgins Collection.
Stereo card by an unidentified photographer. Mike Higgins Collection.

Eternal memory. At the Union Passenger Depot in Providence, R.I., a crowd gathered in front of a platform decorated with patriotic motifs and dark bunting bearing the Latin phrase “memoria in æterna,” or “eternal memory.” At the center, beneath draped flags, is an oval shield with the Rhode Island state crest. On the platform are military men, civilians, and a speaker with an arm raised. The crowd includes a band, soldiers, and civilians. While the event’s purpose is unknown, the Depot was completed in 1875 and burned in 1896.

Contributors: Bob Zeller of the Center for Civil War Photography, MI Contributing Editor Mark Dunkelman, and the Rhode Island Historical Society reference staff.


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