Peter F. Stevens (c. 1860)

20 January 2024

This stunning portrait of Major Peter Fayssoux Stevens (1830 – 1910), Superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy – the Citadel – was painted by his granddaughter Grace Annette DuPré (1894 – 1984, NYT obit).

Miss DuPré and grandson Paul Stevens donated the painting to the Citadel in 1959. The original resides in the archives there and a copy hangs on campus in Bond Hall. Thanks to Citadel Archivist Major Tessa Updike for kindly providing this.

The plaque at the bottom reads:

Peter Fayssoux Stevens
Class of 1849 – Superintendent 1859-1861
Colonel Confederate States Army
◄ • ►
Directed the fire against the Federal steamer Star of the West
in Charleston Harbor January 9, 1861. This being
the first shot of the War Between the States
Painted by Grace Annette Du Pre
◄ • ►
Presented to the Citadel May 31, 1959 by
Grace Annette Du Pre and Paul Stevens, grandchildren of Colonel Stevens

Francis E King (c. 1858)

18 January 2024

This is Michigan farm boy Francis E. King, probably in about 1858 when he was 15 years old.

At age 19, in August 1862, he enlisted as a Private in the 17th Michigan Infantry. Just over a month later he was killed in the Battle of Antietam.

Thanks to John Banks for providing a copy of this lovely daguerreotype, from the collection of Nick Sacco.

Charles Urquhart Williams was a staff officer to Brigadier General David R Jones at Sharpsburg in 1862 and after Jones’ death in January 1863 was with Brigadier General Montgomery D Corse. He was captured near Petersburg in mid-1864 and was a prisoner to the end of the war.

He was afterward a prominent lawyer in Richmond, VA, where this photograph was probably taken, possibly on the occasion of his service in the Virginia Legislature (1875-77). Thanks to g-g-g-grandson Jerrold Johnson for sending me this copy.

James Burke (c. 1887)

10 January 2024

Private James Burke of Company D, 27th Indiana Infantry was wounded at Antietam on 17 September 1862. Here he is perhaps 25 years later, about the time he began receiving a government pension for his war service.

Thanks to Polly Kaczmarek for this photograph. She got it from her grandmother, who was James’ granddaughter.

Polly notes the similarity with the photocopy, below, of a picture found in his pension file in Washington, DC. In it, as she says, he’s “shirtless and scrawny,” at least in part due to his wartime experiences.

Willard Dean Tripp had early war service as a Corporal in the 4th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, a 3-month unit, then helped form a new company and was commissioned their Captain in December 1861. They became Company F of the 29th Massachusetts Infantry, part of the famous Irish Brigade at Antietam. He led them for 3 years and was briefly the regiment’s Lieutenant Colonel near the end of his term in December 1864.

The fine photograph above is among the holdings of the US Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) in Carlisle, PA.

The USAHEC has another picture of him, this one taken later in the war; he looks to have aged a bit. It’s from a page in Volume 117 of the MOLLUS Massachusetts Collection.

Given the moniker George Samuel Franklin David Worcester at birth, he dropped the Franklin and David as a young man to be afterward known as George Samuel Worcester. He was a Sergeant in the 13th Massachusetts Infantry when he was wounded at Antietam in September 1862. After recovering, he was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery and was successively promoted to Major by the end of the war.

He’s pictured here at that rank in an Alexander Gardner photograph in the MOLLUS Massachusetts Collection at the US Army Heritage and Education Center.

There’s another copy of this image, on a CDV, in the Boston Public Library.

This excellent CDV of Theodore Burr Gates is from the collection of descendant Piera Weiss who kindly provided us a scanned copy.

Then their Lieutenant Colonel, Gates commanded his regiment in battle on South Mountain on 14 September and at Antietam on 17 September 1862. He was promoted to Colonel soon afterward, and was brevetted Brigadier General of Volunteers in March 1865.

He returned to his law practice after his term expired in late 1864, but also continued in state service and was commissioned Major General in the New York Militia in 1867.

Corporal Addison A. Townsend of Company I, 3rd Wisconsin Infantry was wounded at Antietam in September 1862 and discharged as disabled for further military service in April 1863.

Here he is in about 1883 in a lovely photograph cared for by his great-great-granddaughter Nancy Faulkner Brooke and sent to us by Tony Townsend.

You’ll notice the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) pin on his tie – in 1883 he was a founding member of the Union G.A.R. Post 96 in Shullsburg, WI (later renamed for their first commander Thomas H. Oates). He was the last surviving member of the post at his death at age 87 in 1926.

Michael Ball (c. 1879)

1 January 2024

Private Michael Ball of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry may have been as young as 16 years old on the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and was probably wounded twice there, on South Mountain on 14 September and at Antietam three days later. By the end of 1862 he was back home with his parents, and afterward had a long career farming in St. Croix County, WI.

This excellent post-war likeness was sent by great-great grandson Ryan R Ball.

Their great-great-grandson Phil McLane sent me this lovely photograph of Catherine and Nicholas Broadwater, who married in 1868. Nicholas was a Private in the 7th South Carolina Infantry when he was wounded at Sharpsburg in September 1862. He survived the war to return to farming in Edgefield County, SC for the rest of his life.