Brig. Gen. Benjamin McCulloch's Staff

AUG

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McCulloch-Staff-30073.jpg

Undated ambrotype photograph of Confederate General Benjamin McCulloch’s staff; Francis Crawford Armstrong is standing on the right and Lunsford Lindsay Lomax is seated on the left; the other three individuals have not been identified. The photograph was taken sometime between the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in August 1861 and the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. Armstrong and Lomax eventually became Confederate generals; General McCulloch was killed at Pea Ridge.

http://ozarkscivilwar.org/photographs/mccullochs-staff/
 
Armstrong is the only general, to my knowledge, to fight on both sides. His resignation didn't take effect until Aug 1861, so he fought at Bull Run as a Federal cavalry officer. After the battle, he once told a newspaper in Tennessee, he swam the Potomac to join the CSA. He also told the same reporter that his unit at Bull Run wasn't engaged, or at least he saw no action. The unit did see some action.
 
Looking back at this photo again, I'm wondering if the man seated at right is Brig. Gen. James M. McIntosh, who commanded a cavalry brigade in Ben McCulloch's Division and was also killed at Pea Ridge....

James_McIntosh.jpg


Still not sure about the other two. What do y'all think?
 
Looking back at this photo again, I'm wondering if the man seated at right is Brig. Gen. James M. McIntosh, who commanded a cavalry brigade in Ben McCulloch's Division and was also killed at Pea Ridge.

James M. McIntosh
Expired Image Removed

Still not sure about the other two. What do y'all think?
If you look at the faces from the nose up,they do look alike. Obviously,he had put on a little weight if the pic you posted is him.
 
Cropped the image so we can get a side by side comparison. Also flipped, as the staff photo is reversed (notice buttons on wrong side).

McIntosh.jpg
James_McIntosh.jpg

Nose and eyes definitely look similar. Does look like he lost weight or gained weight, depending on when the other photo was taken... or it could just be his beard.
 
McCulloch-Staff-30073.jpg

Undated ambrotype photograph of Confederate General Benjamin McCulloch’s staff; Francis Crawford Armstrong is standing on the right and Lunsford Lindsay Lomax is seated on the left; the other three individuals have not been identified. The photograph was taken sometime between the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in August 1861 and the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. Armstrong and Lomax eventually became Confederate generals; General McCulloch was killed at Pea Ridge.

http://ozarkscivilwar.org/photographs/mccullochs-staff/

I'm trying to verify that the fellow seated middle is my great-grandfather, Col. Edward Dillon. On McCulloch's staff at Pea Ridge, as Thomas W. Cutrer's book Ben McCulloch and the Frontier Military Traditon says, "Edward Dillon of McCulloch's staff galloped up 'with disaster on his face.' Reining in beside Van Dorn, he whispered, 'McCulloch is killed, McIntosh killed, Hebert is killed, and the attack on the front is ceased.'" Think I just saw something else on this site saying he appeared to have been at Wilson's Creek also. How can a person ever confirm such a thing?
 
I'm trying to verify that the fellow seated middle is my great-grandfather, Col. Edward Dillon. On McCulloch's staff at Pea Ridge, as Thomas W. Cutrer's book Ben McCulloch and the Frontier Military Traditon says, "Edward Dillon of McCulloch's staff galloped up 'with disaster on his face.' Reining in beside Van Dorn, he whispered, 'McCulloch is killed, McIntosh killed, Hebert is killed, and the attack on the front is ceased.'" Think I just saw something else on this site saying he appeared to have been at Wilson's Creek also. How can a person ever confirm such a thing?
Only way would be to compare a known photograph of Col. Edward Dillon, unless you can find a positive ID somewhere.

I did find a bio of Dillon here along with this postwar photo of him below: https://books.google.com/books?id=IDoUAAAAYAAJ&dq=colonel edward dillon 2nd mississippi cavalry&pg=PA98#v=onepage&q&f=false

100-IA1&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U2Jyy0AJeaIAqigJTiMzZsX2WUF4g&ci=42%2C139%2C848%2C921&edge=0.jpg

McCulloch-Staff-300733.jpg


There is somewhat of a resemblance, although the hair is parted on opposite sides. Another possibility is the guy standing to the left.

McCulloch-Staff-300734.jpg
 
Thanks, I appreciate your careful thought on this question. I just don't recognize the man immediately above as one of ours (or ourselves as his). Between the top two, the eyebrows, cheekbones, and earlobes appear more similar, and as you say, the hairline, not to mention the parting. All allowing for the passage of time. It's truly hard to say, however much I may want to claim that middle guy, who just plain looks familiar. I'll post another photo coming up, and contact my distant cousin for one she had also. Thank you again for considering it!
 
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McCulloch-Staff-30073.jpg

Undated ambrotype photograph of Confederate General Benjamin McCulloch’s staff; Francis Crawford Armstrong is standing on the right and Lunsford Lindsay Lomax is seated on the left; the other three individuals have not been identified. The photograph was taken sometime between the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in August 1861 and the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862. Armstrong and Lomax eventually became Confederate generals; General McCulloch was killed at Pea Ridge.

http://ozarkscivilwar.org/photographs/mccullochs-staff/

Lomax aside (who became a general in Virginia), Earl Van Dorn played a big role in the elevation of these men to high command, along with members of his own staff. Having complained of the military ignorance in the brigade and regimental commanders in the Army of the West, Van Dorn elevated staff officers to the ranks of brigadiers. Armstrong, Dabney Maury, William L. Cabell, and even "temporarily" (not being confirmed by the Confederate Congress) Charles W. Phifer. These were men who had served either on his or McCulloch's staffs.
 
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Confederate Staff Officers Joseph H Crute, Jr

Ben McCulloch’s staff

M M Kimmell Lt O. O.

Wm R Bradfute Capt AAAG

Edward Dillon

Wm M Montgomery Maj AQM

W S Pemberton Capt ACS

J Gaenslen-surgeon

T L Hunter asst surgeon

Ben Johnston VADC

James McIntosh Capt, AAG

Armstrong Lt AAG

*Lomax-not listed


http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/lunsford-lindsay-lomax.html

*During the first few years of the war, Lomax served in a number of non-combat roles: first as adjutant general on Gen. Joseph Johnston’s staff and as inspector general for Gen. Benjamin McCulloch before being transferred back to the Eastern Theater and given command of the 11th Virginia Cavalry.
 
Cropped the image so we can get a side by side comparison.

View attachment 76483
James_McIntosh.jpg


Nose and eyes definitely look similar. Does look like he lost weight or gained weight, depending on when the other photo was taken.... or it could be just be his beard.

He'd be the first Confederate west of the Mississippi to gain weight :wink: but after you wrote that I started looking and I bet you're right about the beard.
 
Looking back at this photo again, I'm wondering if the man seated at right is Brig. Gen. James M. McIntosh, who commanded a cavalry brigade in Ben McCulloch's Division and was also killed at Pea Ridge.

James M. McIntosh
James_McIntosh.jpg


Still not sure about the other two. What do y'all think?
I think he looks a little more like the guy standing on the left.
 
As I continue to research my great grandfather's, Col. Edward Dillon, military, family and business life, coincidence and serendipity ran through it. While resting at the estate of General Leonidas Polk, he met his future wife and the General's niece, Francis Ann Polk. Through her mother, Mary Ann Eastin, she was related to Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, the President's wife. On that Donelson side was also the Van Dorn family. So, after marriage and their deaths, he became an in-law to two Generals he fought under. He served his last year under Nathan Bedford Forrest with his last battle at Selma, Alabama. His mother was Mary Morris Johnston, first cousin of General Joseph E. Johnston and descendant of William Ball, George Washington's great-grandfather. After the war, the Col. worked as a superintendent on the James River Kanawha Canals. There he discovered a seam of limestone that he began to quarry for construction material and powder to use in coal mines. He settled with his wife on the James for 25 years at Indian Rock and moved to Lexington living at Mulberry Hill his last 6 years. That business celebrated it's 150th year in operation in 2018. He is buried in Lexington, VA. about 50 yards from Stonewall Jackson.

IMG_20210211_184451045.jpg
 
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