Do Any of These People in Unclaimed Civil War Photographs Resemble Your Relatives?
- Posted on June 14, 2012 at 8:30pm by
Liz Klimas
- Print »
- Email »
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The names of the two little girls are an enduring mystery, their images found among crumpled bodies on Civil War battlefields. Each is posed primly on chairs, ringlets cascading past the rouged cheeks of one, the other dressed in a frilly hoop dress.
But no one knows the identities of the girls in the photographs, or the stories they might tell.
(Photo: Museum of the Confederacy)
The photograph of one girl was found between the bodies of two soldiers – one Union, one Confederate, at Port Republic, Va., 150 years ago this June. The other was retrieved from a slain Union soldier’s haversack in 1865 on a Virginia farm field days before a half-decade of blood-letting would end with a surrender signed not far away at Appomattox.
(Photo: Museum of the Confederacy)
Though photography was in its infancy when the war broke out, its use was widespread. Many soldiers carried photographs of loved ones into battle and for the first time, photographic images of war were available – and the Museum of the Confederacy has its own vast collection of images today, many of them identified.
But now museum officials are releasing the unidentified images of the two girls, along with six other enigmatic photographs, on the admittedly remote chance someone might recognize a familial resemblance or make a connection to a battlefield where they were found.
There is no writing on the backs of these photographs. No notes tucked inside their wallet-sized frames. For a museum that prides itself on knowing the provenance of its holdings, the photographs offer few clues.
“We don’t know who they are and the people who picked them up did not know who they were,” said Ann Drury Wellford, curator of 6,000 Civil War images at the Richmond museum that has the largest collection of artifacts of the Confederate states, civilian and military. “They evoke an utter and complete sentimentality.”
Museum officials can only speculate on the children and adults, including soldiers, shown in the photographs. But whether they were sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, or siblings the prospect of identifying each grows dimmer with the passage of time.
Typically they were found by another soldier and handed down through generations. Ultimately an attic would be cleared or a trunk would be emptied and the photo would be given to the museum. Some have been in the museum’s possession for 60 years or more.
(Photo: Museum of the Confederacy)
Even in its infancy, photography was booming during the Civil War. Photographers were assigned to Northern divisions and traveling photographers were the early version of photo booths as they visited encamped troops between battles and photographed them.
Photography was evolving from daguerreotype to ambrotypes and other mediums in which images were produced through a wet emulsion on glass and were more accessible to a wider audience.
“It had more versatility than it had ever had,” according to Jeffrey Ruggles, a historian of photography. “It was the early blossoming of photography. The war just happened to hit at a time when people were very interested in seeing these pictures.”
Bob Zeller, president of The Center for Civil War Photography, said soldiers carrying photographs of wives, children and other loved ones off to battle was common. Finding a photo on the battlefield without a clear connection to a dead soldier was uncommon and highly evocative.
“Much of it is the unknown factor that the image carries,” he said. “It’s something that everyone cherishes, a photograph of their loved ones, but there it is out on this battlefield with these seemingly nameless, faceless corpses.”
(Photo: Museum of the Confederacy)
Zeller, the author of several books on Civil War photography, including “The Blue and Gray in Black and White: A History of Civil War Photography,“ described such photos as the link for many Civil War combatants to ”a reality that, for many of them, had just disappeared.”
Sometimes, the story behind an unidentified photo is eventually told. Zeller relates the story of a Union soldier who died at Gettysburg, clutching a photograph of his family. Widespread efforts in the North to identify the family ultimately proved successful in tracing his family to upstate New York.
As for the girl’s photos, there is no hint of who these subjects are and the connection to the combatants who once cherished them is lost.
Unlike modern soldiers, few Civil War troops had the modern-day version of dog tags and few carried identification. The Civil War also did not have the kinds of mortuary units that now strive to collect all the possessions of the war dead and return them to their families.
Each photograph is in a hinged case with a leather or composite exterior. The cases protected the fragile images, which include early photographic processes such as tintypes and daguerreotypes.
“We’re very fortunate that we know where they came from and how they were found, and many people who donated them were hopeful a family member would see them and identify them,” Wellford explained. But the museum official said it would be too costly and time-consuming, she said, for curators to do their own detective work.
(Photo: Museum of the Confederacy)
Pvt. Thomas W. Timberlake of the 2nd Virginia Infantry found the portrait of the girl with the ringlets and hand-colored pink cheeks on the battlefield of Port Republic between the bodies of the two dead soldiers.
Fought in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s forces turned back Northern troops led by Brig. Gen. James Shields, who lost 67 men. The Union troops hailed from Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The other girl, who had short hair parted down the middle, was found by Pvt. Heartwell Kincaid Adams of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry in the haversack he found on a Union soldier’s body at the battle of High Bridge in Virginia, only days before the war ended at Appomattox in 1865.
“I think they’re utterly compelling, especially the little girls,” Wellford said. “You can see that they‘re dressed well and they’re posed in elaborate studios. There was a lot of thought and effort that went into taking those pictures.”
The other photographs released by the museum offer scant information on their origin. Many lack the dates they were found and locations, but Wellford hopes the public at large could help.
They show:
- A Confederate soldier, standing ramrod tall and staring intently, who left an ambrotype of himself with Mrs. L.M.C. Lee of Corinth, Miss., on the eve of the Battle of Shiloh. The soldier never returned and is presumed to have been killed in battle.
- An officer, the epaulettes hand-painted a still-glinting silver, found on a battlefield near Richmond. The museum identified him as a lieutenant but was unable to determine for which side. It was not unusual for a militia officer from the South to wear a U.S. Army issue uniform dating from before the nation was divided by the Civil War.
- An unidentified woman found in the effects of a soldier identified as Joseph Warren. Her cheeks were painted a pink blush; her earrings, rings, and necklace were painted gold.
- Two young girls flanking a somber-looking woman, found in the effects of Joseph Warren.
- An unidentified couple with two young children. A Union soldier known only as Kilmartin found the photograph on the Fredericksburg battlefield. It was later passed on by Mrs. Walter Blunt of Richmond to the museum.
- An unidentified man found in a tent somewhere in North Carolina during the war.
Wellford said the photographs show there was more to the war than combat and death.
“You have these guys out their killing each other and all sorts of bloodshed and he’s carrying a picture of a little girl,” Welllford said. “It shows the humanity.”
Museum officials said, even 150 years later, it remains important to return the photos to families who had a link to the Civil War. The two girls, they said, still evoke powerful emotions.
“You think about these little girls at home and their daddies never return and they don’t know what happened to them,” said Sam Craghead, a spokesman for the museum. “It’s just a really, really human story.”
If you think you can identify anyone in the photos, contact the Museum at 855-649-1861 x113 or by email. See more unidentified photos here.
Comments (49)
Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 685 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 535 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 445 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 373 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 332 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 290 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 297 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 191 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 301 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 290 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Blazen420
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 12:15pmProbably a trick….Anyone who calls will probably be sued by some black group claiming these folks owe them something.
Report Post »atechgeek
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 2:30pmIt is a sad day in America that we actually have to think like that. Vote wisely in November.
Report Post »Coinking
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 9:49amI have two books of tintype photos, kids, families, soldier, and several men. I got these from a customer who had no idea where they came from. The only clue I have is that on the bottom on one has the name of the photographer, “Mat. I. Brady, Eisert’s Block, Princeton, Ind.”
I would love to find out who, what, when on these photos. Clothing appears to be Civil War era. Soldier is in uniform, but can’t determine which side!
Thanks for any insights.
Report Post »Jezcruzen
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:01amMy Great-Great Grandmother was a young girl during the War of Northern Aggression. She was playing outside the house when Yankee calvary rode up. The officer asked her, “What are you doing little girl?’ She replied, “I‘m burying my doll so the yankees won’t get her.” The men laughed and rode on. The officer was Custer, on a scouting mission prior to the Battle of Lynchburg.
Those old photos pluck a string somewhere deep inside. They represent hands across time.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:49amI love the pictures of the Children… in their Adult Style clothes,
Report Post »ranchoazulmt
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 11:17amEven back then, kids still wanted to grow up too fast!
Report Post »MRMANN
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:01amMy ancestors were still in Norway at that time, and, no, there was no resemblence. Interesting article, though.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:03amThere are only 11 Facial Types in the World!
Report Post »AmeriWoman
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:20amI am an 11th generation American. My ancestors came here ffom Germany and fought for America in the revolutionary war. I love the history of them at the Battle of Cowpens and our involvment of the story of “The Free State Of Winston Alabama”. I think my bull headedness comes from them when I remember them being called the “ruffians”, (the Ridge Runners ~ Indian patrol) who walked through the White House in muddy boots during Jackson’s day. Those photos could be anyones family from those years. I wonder if they look down on us all now ands shake their heads…. I wont say I have lost all faith, but I will say I’ve been raised and raised the next of our generations to have faith, and to be fighters and leaders. On the old pics… I hope they find the families those belong to, wouldn’t that be nice.
Report Post »EPROM
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 3:18amThe lady in the top photo seems to have rather high cheekbones. ….Maybe that’s a missing relative of Elizabeth Warren?
-EPROM
Report Post »AmeriWoman
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:30amHAHA! good one…
Report Post »cosmic dogma
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 1:54amCivil war. So many whites died freeing blacks. Never enough for them.
Report Post »Bob_R_OathKeeper
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 3:26amYou are exactly right and I doubt that it’s being taught……I doubt much of anything is being taught anymore. All they have now is liberal inculcation.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:12amECONOMICS, Yes… NATIONALISM, Yes… PRIDE, Yes… DEFENSE, Yes… ABIDING THE MILITARY SERVICE LAW, Yes… WHOM IS TOUGHER & STRONGER, yes… but, FREEING THE SLAVES was not on the Mind of the Soldiers!
In fact, US Grant gave orders… to block following Blacks, and shoot upon them, if they hindered the Union Advance into the South! This is UN-REVISED HISTORY!
Report Post »zwolfe12
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 11:53amReally LUKERW? It wasn’t about slavery? Or freeing blacks? You need to review your history. It was about slaves no matter what argument you use. Even the argument that it was about economics can be traced to slavery. The entire economy of the South at the time was based on slave labor. No matter what anyone tells you, the reason for the Civil War was slavery. The whites in the South subjugating other people for their own financial gain. Nothing else.
Report Post »Moozmom
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 1:48amPlease read, “The Widow of the South” and visit the Carnton Plantation in Kentucky. It‘s the most vivid Civil War story I’ve every known (and I am old).
Report Post »thehormonalhillbilly
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:56amGreat book! But Carnton is in Franklin, Tennessee. Another great book is “The Spur and the Sash” by Robert Grade.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:52amI like… The Horse Soldiers… best :)
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 12:46amAnyone signed up with http://www.ancestry.com?
I had no idea who my family members were outside my parents and a few aunts/uncles. Blown away by how many Revolutionary War soldiers were found on my father’s side. Seeing all the tombstones and reading census that follow someone from birth to death definitely puts into perspective how short life is. Our founders fought a war for nothing – we are almost full circle under a government as bad as Englands.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:25amHigh Office breeds Contempt for the People whom put one there!
In the Bible, there is reference to the JUBILEE… where every 50 years… everything borrowed was returned, and debts forgiven… Returning things to a Beginning/Starting over again.
Mao… shought a Permanent Revolution by the Red Guards to keep the Spirit of Revolution alive… but it only killed people and caused Chaos!
I think… every Law should Expire within a 50 year Law-life-period… which would keep Government occupied with old matters, and away from forming New Blasphemies!
Report Post »Bruce P.
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:44pmI visited the Civil War exhibit at the Fraiser Historical Museum in Louisville, KY a few months back. The stories were haunting and moving.
And all I could think was, “This will happen again soon.”
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 6:28amIt is close… even now!
Report Post »paintbrushbright
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 11:28pmI am seventy years old and it is amazing how young our country is. When I was a small boy my Grandfather would take me to a small Barber Shop in Lafollette Tn. It only had one chair and I was seated on a wood plank that rested on the armrests of the barber chair. There was a Pot Belly Stove with a lot of old men sitting around it telling war stories. They were Civil War and First World War veterans. I remember one old man with a white beard that had a beautiful grey Calvary hat with two crossed swords and siver bobs on it. I wish I could have stayed and listened to their stories.
Report Post »Stevsea
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 8:36amThanks for sharing your memories. It’s all so very fascinating to me. And like you said, how young our country still is. I have in my possession the Honorable Discharge paper of my Great Great Grandfather when he was released from The New Jersey Volunteers in 1865. Also there is a cemetery card for Newark, NJ with the plot number written on it. You can’t help staring at it and letting your mind wander into the past. It is currently varnished to a poorly made walnut plaque but you can see where it was folded two times lengthwise and one time across the width. I imagine my Great Great Grandfather receiving the paper, folding it and putting it in his pocket, paying the Army for his horse, and riding back home to New York State from wherever he was. I truly wish I had a photo and knew more about him.
Report Post »jespasinthru
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:55pmThe man in that third photo is the mirror image of a man I work with. Same face shape, same big, pale eyes, same nose and chin, even the same eyebrows and mustache. Tomorrow I’m going to tell him to come to The Blaze and look at that photo. I think that’s one of his ancestors. Either that, or he‘s immortal and doesn’t want anybody to know.
Report Post »TheFonz
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:30pmNot only should you indentify and date your photographs to the best of your knowledge, but scan them and put them on CD. Make copies for family members. That way, if the originals are ever lost (say in a flood our house fire), they are saved and there are several back-ups in the family.
Report Post »db321
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:07pmThe guy in the photo 3rd from the top looks like a descendant of Red Shelton
Report Post »Ron Staiger
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 7:58amAnd ask somebody who they are. I have an album full of WW1 German soldiers photos on postcards sent home to my grandparents. None of the postcards are dated after August of 1917 so I have to wonder if they served together in the same regiment and possibly fought at Passchendaele. I do know that all of my grandfather‘s five brothers died in that war but I don’t know who is who in the postcards. Should have asked the questions when I had the chance.
Report Post »Building-5
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:27pmback when a little girl’s purity was precious.
Report Post »Mopar 1969
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:16pmNo but thanks for asking,my parents came from Germany after the war.So glad they did so proud of being a first generation AMERICAN.
Report Post »Though the little fellow in the dress looks like uncle Klaus.
LeadNotFollow
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:14pm…
Civil War. What a shame. Millions died. Families were torn apart.
I apologize in advance, but it was all for nothing.
Look at what Blacks have done with their freedom. They went from the farmer’s plantation, to the Government’s plantation. Their so called Black leaders, have taught them to forever hate the very people who fought and died, to free them.
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:33pmThe worst of it is, they are demanding “reparations”. I think the blood of those who freed them is reparations enough. They aren’t demanding it of the South, but all whites.
My people were victimized by the English. Before that by the Romans. Before that by the Norsemen. Gee….where’s an International Reparations lawyer when you need one?
Report Post »mils
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:41pmblacks need to look for reparations from their own African relatives that sold them into slavery in the first place..but then…they can’t actually blame themselves for continual failure…can they?…
Report Post »TunaBlue
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:42pmCivil War dead estimates run between 600 and 700 thousand, not “millions.” There are more rich and affluent Black Americans now than any other period in our history. I have no reason to argue your other points because the issue is very boring.
Report Post »Welcome Black Carter
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 10:56pmIt would be interesting to know the actual cost to the country per slave…
Report Post »Triplescrew
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 2:05amLook at what “the blacks” have done to their freedom? I wish there was a site for non-racist conservatives.
http://gain-sense.blogspot.com/2012/04/glenn-beck-vs-bill-oreilly.html
Report Post »thedirtmover
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:04pmThe top photo just might be a boy. Back then boys and girls alike wore
Report Post »dresses.
mils
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:43pmboth are girls..notice the shoulders, and the petticoats.. although, yes, boys did on occasion wear a dress type garment..
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 4:24amNope. Wrong. Boys and girls were very distinguished. These girls are in hoopskirts, a very common formal dress for the time. They would not have put a boy in a hoopskirt. Liberals today might, but that’s a different matter…
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:03pmThere‘s one person that I hope doesn’t see this article… Elizabeth Warren. = : )
Report Post »BellaMia7
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 8:58pmMy grandmother had the habit of writing on the backs of photographs, the date and the names of the people in the photo. Thanks, Grandma!
Report Post »RejectFalseIcons
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 8:53pmWe spent 7.2 BILLION today on nothing. How about you leave these human interest stories for Huffington, where they belong?
Report Post »RejectFalseIcons
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 8:53pmWe spent 7.2 Billion dollars today. How about reporting on something that matters? These human interest stories from your huffpo fails are just disgusting.
The truth has no agenda… human interest BS is another story.
Report Post »BeingThere
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 8:49pmI love old photographs, especially ones from the past :-) Seriously though, I have a lot from my own family but there is no one left to identify them for me. Ask questions while you still have someone to ask. I didn’t care until it was too late.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:03pmAnd pass them on to people who will care. I have none including my own…. my brother is an only child (yes .. both he and my mother think he is the “only”) and he has no children and little interest in anything but himself…. but the photos have not come to me… (who has someone to pass them onto) and won’t.
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 9:25pmAt auctions I often see dozens of turn-of-the-century photographs and albums in the auction lots. It is heartbreaking to see family history simply tossed away. I once asked an auctioneer how families could bear to do it. “No one knows who they are any more”, he replied. Always, ALWAYS, date your photographs and comment on who and where.
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on June 14, 2012 at 8:42pmThe little girls are just adorable. Note how they are standing on the chairs. I’m guessing lack of adjustable tripods for the cameras…Something that someone eventually invented without government intervention.
Report Post »Ron Staiger
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 8:04amThe girl with ringlets is actually sitting on something next to the chair with her feet and arm resting on the chair to steady her for the long exposure time of those old cameras. Even smiling was difficult to maintain for such a long time and that’s why you rarely see more than a grimace in Civil War era photos.
Report Post »Ron Staiger
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 8:08amMost photos were taken with the subject leaning against a stand with a head support that was directly behind them. It is visible in some old photos but the adjustment arm did not move down far enough to accomodate young children- that’s why they are usually standing or resting on something to get the correct height.
Report Post »