Take it out of the case and if its on glass its an ambrotype if its on metal its a tintype.Thanks for the replys guys, I'm not sure what it is, I assumed Ambrotype from research on what was most popular during the civil war period, I'm definitely not an expert in this field.
It's pretty snug inside the case , I have no idea how to take it out and don't want to mess it up at all, there is a slight crease down the center, I think it is a tin type, the gilding to the buttons and sword are painted on, maybe I can test it with a magnet ?
No, the mat,glass and photo come out as one piece . The mat is what holds the glass and photo together. Just gently pry up on the mat between it and the case and it should come out fairly easy.Best thing to do is take a flat head screwdriver or a butter knife and place it between the brass mat and the velvet edge then lift the mat up.
The whole thing should come apart in two pieces.
The mat and glass should be one peice and the case itself along with the photograph should be another.
Then the photograph should be very easy to take out of the case to examine all without any damage to the case.
Maybe if you're lucky you might have some writing on the back telling you who this officer was.
I wouldn't do anything with a magnet.
...the word before John *might* be Maj. for the rank of Major. Although he's wearing the single-breasted uniform frock coat of a captain or lieutenant in the photo, he might've achieved the rank of major during the war.
Not unless he was a member of the Regular army, since the dates for the war (the most likely time this was taken) are 1861-1865. Besdes, in 1860 the tintype process was still very new and ambrotypes were most common in 1856.Thanks for the info, I am going to try to get better pictures and run them through different filters to see if I can make the writing stand out more. So May 7 1856 is not the date the picture was taken?