Category: biography
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Notable Rhode Island artillerymen
Just a quick post this week – I’ve too many irons in the fire. Blog neglect aside, though, January has been a good month for incoming treasures and catching up with biographies on AotW. Corporal James A Barber (M. Frazel) One in particular came out of a post I found on Granite in my Blood…
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Snapshots
While chasing one of my boys, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel W. Owen, 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry, I came on a photograph of him in an unusual setting. It made me think about how few casual or frivolous pictures–snapshots–I’ve can remember seeing among (probably) thousands of American Civil War-era images. On reflection, this isn’t surprising. Due to the…
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The very image of a soldier: A. V. Colburn
Lieut.-Col. A.V. Colburn, Warrenton, Va, November 1862 (studio of M. Brady, Library of Congress) A brand new Lieutenant at First Bull Run in July 1861, George A Custer later recalled with envy a gallant charge by a squadron of the 1st US Cavalry under Capt Colburn early in the battle. The charge may not have…
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Private soldiers
Every so often I hear from descendants of soldiers who were at Sharpsburg in September 1862. Many ask why their ancestor is not already among those profiled on Antietam on the Web. Well, the obvious–if selfish–answer is that it’s taken me about 12 years to get to approximately 1100 individuals. That these are something fewer…
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Battery Commander Elijah Taft
I’ve been looking into one of the artillery officers I mentioned last week, Captain Elijah Taft. I had nothing on him to begin with, and he’s still an enigma to me today. 5th NY Battery monument, Gettysburg (New York at Gettysburg) I prefer to bring you well-rounded posts when profiling the soldiers at Antietam, and…
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Delos B Sackett, Inspector General, USA
At the bottom of this page, from the famous Gardner photo of October 1862, are a group of officers of the Army of the Potomac with President Lincoln. It may be one of the most recognizable images of Antietam. Prominent among these men by his size and attitude–if not location, at far left–is Colonel Delos…
