Faces of War Marketplace Launched

Earlier this evening, Anne and I launched Faces of War Marketplace using the services of CafePress. The store is currently stocked with a 16x20 poster, calendar and 2x3 magnet featuring cartes de visite portraits from the column and books. We will be adding additional items in the near future, including items featuring Civil War period civilian images.

Gray Faces of War Reviewed in AJC

"Gray faces of war" is the headline of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of Faces of the Confederacy, which appeared today in print and online.

"Coddington’s prose is as unpretentious as the faces he shares, yet authoritative. It resurrects details that broaden our understanding of those sad times and sheds valuable light on the shape of modern culture," writes Bill Hendrick, a longtime AJC staff member who left the company last year. Bill interviewed me for this review, and also spoke with David Wynn Vaughan of Atlanta, one of the collectors whose contribution made this book come into its own.

I like this quote for two reasons. I write in a clear, direct style and try to use first-person narrative to advance the soldier's story. I also refrain from injecting my own point of view, for it is the soldier's story, not my own. I also stay away from generalization unless it helps put the soldier's experience into greater context or bring additional meaning to the story.

Also, Bill's reference to the Civil War period's influence on the shape of modern culture is spot on. Anything contemporary writers of history can do to convey the confusion and chaos of those times can only benefit those who continue on the American journey. Our story is one of shades of gray. As time marches on and memories fade and disappear, the subtle shades are reduced to a stark contrast of black and white. Lost is the complex and complicated tangle of cultural and political issues at the core of the wars, economic crisis, scientific milestones and other watershed events that make their way into our history books.

I first met Bill Hendrick twenty-three years ago at the AJC. Our careers overlapped in the late eighties: He had by then established a reputation as one of America's top business writers, having predicted the 1987 stock market crash; I was a rookie staff artist who had joined the company shortly before the first Apple computer landed in the department.

Bill descends from a Virginia family whose sons fought for the Confederacy.

Society of Civil War Surgeons Conference

I accepted an invitation to speak at the 2010 national conference of the Society of Civil War Surgeons. The group, led by President Pete D'Onofrio, is dedicated to promoting the medical heritage of the Civil War and serving as a resource for medical and surgical practices of the period. I am honored to participate. I've contributed several profiles of medical men (originally published in the Civil War News) to the SCWS journal, and have been impressed by its content and membership. Without a doubt the national conference will be an exciting event.

ACRL Reviews Confederate Faces

George Eberhart of the Association of College & Research Libraries recently reviewed Confederate Faces. He writes:

"Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories, by Ronald S. Coddington (320 pages, December 2008), brings to life the fragmented backgrounds of 82 Confederate soldiers pictured on cartes de visite of the 1860s. Coddington has hit upon a unique and fascinating niche in the seemingly endless march of Civil War books. This one is a sequel to his Faces of the Civil War (2004), which matched the images of ordinary Union privates, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains with brief memoirs of their war experiences. With Southern veterans the documentary trail is much harder to pick up, making the author's biographical vignettes all the more extraordinary. The earnestness, defiance, and desperation on the faces of these men resonates with a modern audience, once their stories are known."

Officer Identified

I've had this carte de visite in my collection for years. The only clues to the identities of the subjects: A modern pencil inscription noting that it had been removed from an album of soldiers belonging to the 135th U.S. Colored Infantry, and the photographer's name, J.C. Elrod of Louisville, Ky.

Recently I began working on an article for a future issue of Military Images magazine. The working title, "Comrades in Arms," headlines a survey of a dozen cartes de visite of soldiers posed in groups of two to six. The image of this pair of officers from the 135th was on my list of photos to definitely include: The quality and contrast of the print is excellent, age toning minimal, and the casual pose of the men is uncommon.

In preparation for writing the caption, I researched the 135th and found that its brief term of enlistment (March to October 1865) began in North Carolina and ended in Louisville, Ky., where this image was taken by the photographer Elrod. This detail fit nicely with the modern pencil note on the back of the mount.

Next, I searched the USAMHI Old Civil War Photos Database. The results included three men from the 135th, all officers. I requested photocopies of the images. Reference Historian Art Bergeron responded promptly, and I received the copies in yesterday's mail. One of the images, a bust view of 1st Lt. and Adjutant Horace S. Bradley, is without a doubt the same individual seated on the left of my carte de visite. The facial features and mustache are identical, and both wear the same close-fitting hat, patterned tie, dark military vest, and leather straps.

Preliminary research reveals that Pennsylvania-born Horace Seymore Bradley (1833-1892) served in the Fifteenth Illinois Infantry before joining the 135th. His brother-in-law, John Edgar Gurley, served as the colonel of the 135th.

I would like to identify the man seated next to Bradley. My first thought was that it may be Col. Gurley. However, this man wears the shoulder straps of a captain. Gurley was originally a captain in the Thirty-third Wisconsin Infantry, but by the time of this sitting would surely have worn the shoulder straps and uniform coat with two columns of brass buttons that befit his rank. Check out the image on Flickr. Perhaps you know who he is.

Confederate Faces is a History Book Club selection

Faces of the Confederacy is one of the January selections of the History Book Club.

Searching for a Likeness of Albert Luke Frakes

Corporal Albert Luke Frakes (1841-1868) served in Company D of the 142nd Indiana Infantry from 1864-1865. Chances are he posed for a photograph before, during, or after his one year term of enlistment. One of his ancestors, George Frakes, would like to find it. If you can help, please email George: grfrakes@cox.net.

Tinted Cartes de Visite

Late last year I purchased a nicely tinted carte de visite of a long-haired woman dressed in bloomers, identified only as "Nellie." This wonderful photograph prompted me to think about other tinted images in my collection, and I began searching for other colored cartes. In the end, I found a variety of images.

The photograph pictured here is perhaps the boldest example, which, with the exception of the background, is fully tinted. On the other side of the scale, a federal officer poses in black and white, although the medal pinned to his uniform is colored in vivid red and blue. Check out the gallery of eight cartes that illustrate the full range of tinting.