By Ron Field
Over the century-and-a-half since Civil War photographers produced portraits, it was not unusual for names and faces to become separated, leaving only scant clues to make an airtight identification.
By comparison, this carte de visite possess a wealth of information. Case in point: This older man is identified as 23-year-old William F. Norman. His uniform and cap indicate he served as an officer in the 13th Infantry. The boy at his side wears the uniform of a navy seaman. An inscription on the back of the mount notes that the image was made in New Orleans on Sept. 23, 1862.
Following a hunch that the two were brothers, and based on an exhaustive search based on known information, one set of brothers emerged—William and 17-year-old John H. Norman of Connecticut. A review of census and military service records shed light on the circumstances that brought them together before the camera at an unknown photographer’s studio in New Orleans—and what became of them after.
The Norman family was well established in New Haven, Conn., prior to the war. English-born John Norman Sr., 49, had migrated to the U.S. in 1848, and employed as a hatter from about 1850. He and his wife, Mary, had raised 10 children by 1860.
The eldest of the siblings, 21-year-old William F. Norman, clerked in the city. Caught up in the enthusiasm to defend the Union in 1861, he helped organize the Knowlton Rifles, an infantry company intended for the 12th Connecticut Infantry.
Due to difficulties electing a commanding officer, the Knowlton Rifles lost their slot, and, in February 1862, mustered as Company K of the 13th Connecticut Infantry. The volunteers elected William as a second lieutenant.
The commander of the regiment, Col. Henry W. Birge, was a stickler for “spit and polish.” He insisted that “every belt, shoe and box must be neatly polished; every gun-barrel and bayonet must shine like a mirror; every hand must wear a glove of spotless white; every form must be erect and manly; every soldier must feel himself a gentleman.”
The 13th embarked aboard the steamer New York City on March 17, 1862, and arrived at Ship Island, off the Louisiana coast, about a month later. By mid-May, the regiment had transferred to New Orleans, encamping in and around the large Customs House on Canal Street. The regiment remained there until mid-October 1862, when it moved to Camp Kearney, near Carrollton, La.
During its stay in New Orleans, the regiment paraded often under and Col. Birge’s influence. According to one report, it made a “superb appearance” with “clean uniforms and … gleaming gun barrels.” On June 15, the Connecticut soldiers provided a guard of honor with drum corps when the U.S. revenue flag was raised on the Custom House in New Orleans. The occasion marked the first time a Union flag had flown in the South since the blockade was established.
Meanwhile, the second eldest son in the Norman family, John H., joined the navy. His naval record described him as 4-feet-10, with blue eyes, light hair, and a fair complexion. After a few days training aboard the receiving ship North Carolina, he transferred to the side-wheel steamer Baltic, a chartered navy transport.
On April 22, about the time his brother arrived in Louisiana, the Baltic left the Brooklyn Navy Yard for the Virginia Peninsula, with the newly commissioned ironclad Galena in tow. Two days later, the flotilla reached Hampton Roads and anchored off Fortress Monroe.
The Baltic was in Hampton Roads on May 10 when federal forces occupied nearby Norfolk and scuttled the Confederate ironclad Virginia.