MI Publishes Confederate Faces Review

Military Images publisher David Neville reviewed Faces of the Confederacy in the latest issue of the magazine (May/June 2008). This excerpt captures the essence of his words:

"These stories are not the often told ones of famous Confederate leaders like General Lee, Stonewall Jackson, or J.E.B. Stuart, but of enlisted men and lower ranking officers, whose life stories deserve to be heard by this generation of American history and Civil War readers."

The complete comments are available in the Confederate Reviews section of my web site.

Finding John H. Weeks

One of the cartes in my collection is a Union captain wearing the distinctive light gray uniform of the Veteran Reserve Corps. He is identified as John H. Weeks. Preliminary searches on Ancestry.com reveal only one soldier by that name, rank and organization, and he served in the Third V.R.C.

I have found that every Ancestry.com file for a soldier who served in the V.R.C. includes the regiment from which he left to join the Corps. Not in this case. I did some additional searching on Ancestry.com and Google, was unable to discover his regiment of origin, and so put this project on the back burner until I could get over to the National Archives and view his full military service record with the hope it might provide a clue.

Today I received an email from Brian Downey, who found the image on my Flickr photostream. Brian recognized him as the same John H. Weeks who served in the Ninety-first Pennsylvania Infantry. He also provided a link to a page dedicated to the facts of Weeks' life and military service, including a wonderful portrait. Noticeably absent was any reference to any service in the V.R.C.

Armed with this new information, I found a volume on Google Book Search that made the connection. Page 117 of the Companions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States features a portrait of an older Weeks (about seven years before his death in 1908) with the caption "JOHN HUEY WEEKS. 1861-1865. Captaln 91st Reg. Pa. Vols. Captain 3d Reg. Vet. Res. Corps. Pennsylvanla Commandery."

The portrait is reproduced here, along with the early image from Downey's link and my carte.

I purchased this photo (from a reputable dealer) along with another carte de visite of a seated officer, his kepi on the floor, resting his head on his left arm, while in his hand he holds a letter. According to the dealer, it came from the same album and was placed on a page facing the identified Weeks image in that album. The soldier is very likely Weeks.

The Cloyds of Cloyd's Mountain

This passage on page 46 in McManus' history of the 1864 Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Raid, The Battle of Cloyds Mountain, led me to wonder if the Cloyd men who occupied two homes near the base of the mountain survived the war:

Surgeon Neil F. Graham of the Twelfth Ohio Infantry "recognized a need for more adequate shelter, and found James M. Cloyd’s residence with several verandas and two large end chimneys overlooking the battlefield, and, about a mile southwest of the battlefield, the home of Maj. Joseph Cloyd. These homes became the hospital, and the medical staff labored through the night."

Both men did outlive the war. I searched Ancestry.com and found James McGavock Cloyd (1828-1892), who acted as a Confederate scout and courier before the battle. Major Joseph Cloyd (1813-1884) acted as a purchasing agent for the Confederate government.

Civil War Times Review

The June 2009 issue of Civil War Times Magazine includes a review of Faces of the Confederacy. Of particular interest is Jack Trammell's focus on the importance of the soldier cartes de visite, which is unusual, as most reviewers emphasize the stories of the volunteers. The review concludes with Trammell recognizing the combination of photographs and stories:

"Coddington's book reminds us that the face of war never really changes, and that conflict never comes at a convenient moment for anyone."

Thanks to my friend Alan Rudolph, who alerted me to the review's publication in CWT.

New Biography of the "Iron Man" by Jim Power

I met Jim Power during the search for the diary of Maj. Thomas B. Webber of the Second Kentucky Cavalry. Webber's story from Mississippi postmaster to one of Gen. John Hunt Morgan's trusted subordinates is one of the more dramatic transformations in my book, Faces of the Confederacy. Jim's generosity and helpfulness was invaluable, particularly his sharing of the Webber diary he painstakingly transcribed.

Jim dedicates an entire volume to Webber, a worthy biographical subject largely unknown today. The "Iron Man" and the "Mississippi Company" of Morgan's Raiders is available now from AuthorHouse.

From the book description: The "Iron Man" and the "Mississippi Company" of Morgan's Raiders tells of a company that joined John Hunt Morgan's Kentucky cavalry and participated in the "Great Raid" into Indiana and Ohio where most of the company was captured. Their leader, who due to health problems appeared to be a wimp from his 1861 diary, had to be helped to mount his horse, but his leadership gained him the title of "Iron Man" from his troops. After prison some of the troops were in Jefferson Davis' guard as he attempted to escape. The closing chapter tells more about the men and the hard life to which they returned. The book contains unpublished material and portrays southern life in the 1860s.

I can't wait to receive my copy.

A Squirrel in Combat

In researching the Battle of Cloyds Mountain (May 9, 1864), I am reading Howard Rollins McManus' excellent volume on the subject. Page 9 includes an excerpt taken from the papers of James M. Comley in the Ohio State Historical Society in Columbus. It refers to breaking up winter camp and the liquidation of accumulated items before the May 1864 raid on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad that culminated in the action on Cloyds Mountain:

"Extra clothing and bedding, cooking stoves, banjos, tamborines, stove pipe hats, fishing tackle, sidesaddles, rowboats and sailboats, pet raccoon, game cocks,...and one solemn looking blinking old owl, comprise a few of the extras disposed of to the highest bidder...One of the men carried a pet squirrel all through the raid."

The fate of this Southern squirrel in federal captivity was not revealed. Nor was his allegiance.

Current Soldiers Under Research

I have expanded my Flickr account to include a new collection, Current soldiers under research. The soldier cartes de visite here are intended to appear in a future "Faces of War" column in the Civil War News.

My motivation for adding this collection is based on the success I've had with postings on The Civil War Message Board Portal and GenForum. Both sites attract authorities and others knowledgeable in the Civil War and genealogy.

This Flickr collection seeks to tap into those with knowledge of Civil War photography. I am hopeful that it will generate additional details about the lives and military service of these men, and perhaps other wartime and post-war photographs.