A cut-down sixth plate tintype of an unidentified corporal of the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters circa early 1864, complete with green tinting. I first saw this image in person almost 18 years ago when my friend Dan Wambaugh and I visited with famed artist/historian Don Troiani. We had been invited to view the original green frock of Sergeant William F. “Frank” Tilson of Vermont Company E, 2nd U.S.S.S., which Don had owned for several years by that point. As a material culture nut I was beyond enthusiastic but Don’s entire collection proved too much for me to ignore and I spent most of my visit going through pretty much everything but the sharpshooter coat. Don did, however, have several other items related to Sgt. Tilson including a wartime cdv album; this tintype was part of it. Since the album contents predominantly featured men of Company E I presume that this corporal is also a Vermonter and friend of Sgt. Tilson he wanted to be represented in the album. Based on a misspelled name in the album index as well as age/complexion/eye/hair colors from the company muster rolls, this man could be Corporal Henry C. Congdon of Company E, a resident of Clarendon, VT who was captured at Gettysburg and later paroled.
The backdrop seen here is an example used by a unknown photographer who operated in the Army of the Potomac in early 1864. While I’m aware of over a dozen sharpshooter portraits taken in front of this backdrop other branches of the Army were also represented. Secondary clues to the timeframe in which this was taken are twofold. First, the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters were issued brand new full dark green uniforms in early 1864 ahead of a Grand Review of the Army by Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses Grant. Second, the frock coats issued bore plain domed “pin-shank” Goodyear patent rubber buttons. Almost one year prior when these coats were made as part of the second (and final) production run by Schuylkill Arsenal they exhausted their supply of Goodyear rubber eagle buttons. The pin-shank variety were selected as a replacement and purchased from merchant Thomas Carhart for both frock coats and forage caps. Several extant original uniform items utilized these buttons including Sgt. Tilson’s frock coat and at least three forage caps of government contract or commercial production. They appear in a large number of sharpshooter photographs taken between late 1863 and early 1865.
1st: A barely-perceptible 1st Division, Third Corps badge on the lower crown of his forage cap; it would have been red. 2nd: Details of the Goodyear “pin-shank” coat buttons. 3rd: Corporal’s chevrons with irregular stripe widths; these could have been cut from cloth and sewn by the corporal himself.
Sergeant William F. Tilson’s original dark green frock coat with (faded) pin-shank rubber buttons. The trim has faded from a grass/emerald green. The chevrons are dark green velvet. Photograph courtesy Richard Milstead, PhD.
They Expect Wonders of Us 