Layton Morris: Missing in Action

Today I received this low-resolution scan of Corp. Layton Morris of the Twenty-fourth U.S. Colored Infantry. It appeared for auction on eBay, date unknown.

The individual who sent it to me is a genealogist who specializes in researching African American descendants. This person does not own the original image, which appears to be a carte de visite inserted into a period photograph album page.

I want to find out who the rightful owner of this image is, and, if he or she would share this photograph with me for my forthcoming book on African American soldiers.

Please contact me if you have any information about this image.

Ulysses S. Grant Goes Undercover

I came across the following anecdote while searching for information about the Union military hospital at Point of Rocks, located along the Appomattox River near City Point, Virginia, where Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant (pictured right) established his headquarters during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864-1865.

The story appears on pages 213-214 of Under the Guns: A Woman's Reminiscences of the Civil War by Annie Wittenmyer (1827-1900), who served as a nurse during the war. She writes that the most notable feature of the Point of Rocks hospital was its kitchens and the high-quality, seemingly home-cooked meals that came from them. She adds that their fame quickly spread along the lines, and attracted a great number of surgeons to learn if the reports were true. "To many it seemed incredible that the cooking for the very sick could be so well managed right along the front lines." Bolstered by the positive feedback, she took it upon herself to extend an invitation to the top army commander:

At my request, General Grant, commanding the United States forces with headquarters at City Point, visited these famous kitchens.

Himself and two of his staff went in disguise.

With his slouch hat drawn down, and coming in citizen's clothing, no one noticed him. They stood by the door of the largest kitchen, while the dinner was issued. He asked, when the food had been sent out, a few questions and looked at the bill of fare, then followed to the wards to see the patients receive it.

He said, when I next came down from Washington and called at headquarters, that he thought it was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen. He was unusually enthusiastic.

"Why," said he, "those men live better than I do; and so many of them too. How they manage to cook such a variety for so many hundreds is what puzzles me."

The he told me about his going through the wards while they were taking their dinner, and noticing how greatly they enjoyed the food. And when told THAT THE MOST OF THIS FOOD CAME FROM THE COMMUTATION OF GOVERNMENT RATIONS, he was still more surprised.

When he was passing through one of the wards, a convalescing soldier, taking him to be a delegate of the Christian Commission, called out, "Say, Christian, won't you bring me a pair of socks?"

"I'll see that you get a pair," the general responded, and passed out; but he arranged to have the man get a pair of socks.

Progress Report

Yesterday I emailed my editor at The Johns Hopkins University Press an end-of-the-year update on the African American book. To date, I have secured scans of 74 images, and researched and written 15 profiles. I had set a goal of 75 images and 10 profiles, and so am pleased with my progress.

This year's goal is to locate 21 more images (for a total of 95) and write 45 more profiles. This will be a challenge, and I am cautiously optimistic.

Also mentioned in my email: "Looking ahead, 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the first organized black regiments, and 2013 the 150th of the U.S. War Department making the organization of black troops official. The publication of the book with these dates in mind may be advantageous."

Time to get to work!

Kendrick Allen, Buffalo Soldier

A note penned on the back of the carte de visite of Kendrick Allen, written by his commanding officer, praises him as an excellent soldier — a fine compliment to an eighteen-year-old sergeant new to soldiering in the 108th U.S. Colored Infantry. Allen served in the regiment from 1864 until 1866.

Five years later he returned to the military, this time in the regular army as a corporal in the Twenty-fourth U.S. Infantry, one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments. He later transferred to the Ninth Cavalry and retired as a sergeant in 1897.

This the first Buffalo Soldier I've documented. If you have any information about Sgt. Allen, please contact me.

Gettysburg USCT Cartes

During my last trip to the Gettysburg visitor center and museum, I noticed six identified cartes de visite of soldiers who served in the ranks of the USCT, and called the archives to find out if I could get scans of the images for use in my book. Spoke with Paul Shevchuk, who had helped me several years ago: I was researching Capt. Thomas R. Clark of the U.S. Signal Corps, who observed the opening stage of the battle from the Adams County Courthouse on July 1. Paul kindly showed me a collection of Clark's artifacts acquired by the museum, including Clark's cipher disk and a number of documents.

Paul came through again. He sent a CD containing scans of the six soldiers from the visitor center, and, much to my delight, four more scans of men not included in the public display.

Overnight, I was easily able to confirm the identities of eight men using Ancestry.com and the American Civil War Research Database.

Two men require further research.

The first is identified in the scan only as Jesse Keepson. Could not find him in any database. However, the same photograph is credited to the Bill Gladstone collection as a member of Company F, 108th U.S. Colored Infantry. Two other images from the 108th are also credited to Gladstone, which leads me to believe he bought them as a group. Armed with this information, I went back to American Civil War Research Database and searched through all the men of the 108th Infantry's Company F. Only one man named Jesse served in Company F, Jesse Hopson. I believe this is the same man, and will be contacting Paul to get a scan of the back of the carte de visite to learn more.

The second is identified as A.E. Jackson of the 78th U.S. Colored Infantry. Eight men with the first initial A and the last name Jackson served in the regiment, and none of the databases include a middle initial or name. To solve this mystery, I will need to visit the National Archives and request the military service records and pension files of all eight men. I also need to get a scan of the back of this image.

Searching for Images for Next Volume

It has been more than a month since I received the issue of the Civil War News with the story about the Twenty-ninth Connecticut Colored Infantry, illustrated with a wonderful carte de visite of two sergeants from the regiment. The image motivated me to get serious about beginning the search for identified, wartime cartes of those who served in the U.S.C.T. Researching and writing about the African-American war experience is a natural next volume in this series.

Last week, I officially began by making contact with Harrison Mero of the Twenty-ninth descendant’s group. He was extremely helpful, offering to provide me with details about the two soldiers, and put out the word that I am looking for photographs. He also directed me to Yale University’s Beinecke Library, which owns the carte.

I am on the track of a few more images. Seventy-seven are required (to be consistent with Union and Confederate Faces).

If you can help, please contact me! My criteria is identified, wartime cartes de visite of African-American soldiers.

Cartes de Visite in Education

I received an email last night from a woman who has, over the past two years, been researching Civil War veterans with her maiden name. She is also planning to speak to her son's sixth grade class about the Civil War, and this is why she contacted me: Her idea is to give each child a reproduction of a carte de visite of an identified soldier at the beginning of the lesson, and, at the end of the lesson, reveal what became of each soldier. She wants to represent the death toll by having one of every four cartes a soldier who did not survive his war experience.

I am eager to help! I pointed her to my Flickr photostream, which currently numbers sixteen soldiers, and plan to email additional scans.

This is such an unique way to educate children about the Civil War, and I am excited to provide materials to make it happen. It reminds me of two museums in nearby Washington, D.C.: The Holocaust Memorial Museum, which provides visitors with a card that contains the name of a person at the beginning of the visit, and later reveals what happened to that individual, and the International Spy Museum, which allows you to pick a undercover identity, then provides you with basic facts, name, hometown, reason for your visit, which you have to remember while you tur the exhibit.