Feeding the Western Troops
It is easy to imagine soldiers of the advancing Union armies in the Western Theater, cooking rations around campfires after a long day’s march. Wartime photographs of these men, posed
Tag: Ronald S. Coddington
Rifled Muskets, Rear Sights, and Rail Lines: Re-Examining a Veteran Indiana Infantry Image
By Phil Spaugy Eleven veteran federal infantrymen standing at ease with their U.S. Model 1842 rifled muskets are front and center in this richly detailed portrait by a photographer in
Hoosiers: Indiana Faces of the Civil War
Whether posed in a studio at Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, or in the field, the Hoosier soldiers who look out from these portraits represent the citizens who left farms,
Long Sol: Indiana’s Fighting Quaker
By Lance J. Herdegen During a military review in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln said with a sly smile that Solomon Meredith of Indiana was “the only Quaker general I have
Thunderbolts and Lightning at Hoover’s Gap: How Wilder’s Lightning Brigade received its nom de guerre
By Ronald S. Coddington Wilder’s “Lightning Brigade” emerged as the Union Army’s innovative counter to fast-moving Confederate cavalry. The notable brigade of mounted infantry and artillery was ably led by
Dynamite Man: The life and times of Hoosier soldier, sailor, and inventor James Weir Graydon
By Ronald S. Coddington The heavens came alive for visitors to the nation’s Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., on a crisp, clear winter’s night in 1877. A party of ladies
Harper’s Weekly Needed an Image of Wallace’s Zouaves. They Commissioned This One.
By Ron Field, with an albumen print from the Rick Brown Collection of American Photography. The illustrated newspapers of the Civil War period, including Harper’s Weekly, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,
The Uniform of the 11th Indiana Infantry, “Wallace’s Zouaves”
By Ron Field Organized at Indianapolis by Col. Lewis Wallace on April 21, 1861, the 11th Indiana included as its nucleus the Montgomery Guards and Independent Zouaves, two existing uniformed
“Mother Ransom”
By Melissa A. Winn By the time the Civil War erupted, Eleanor Ransom had already lived a full life—as a wife, a mother, and a Hoosier shaped by years of
Johnson’s Star Gallery, Indianapolis
By Buck Zaidel At first glance, the painted backdrop in a studio portrait can seem little more than theatrical scenery—stylized tents, patriotic military elements, and simple landscapes. Yet, these primitive