Golden Thread Generals At A Younger Age

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Prewar image of Braxton Bragg.

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George Armstrong Custer in West Point cadet uniform, 1860.

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Philip Sheridan, center, with West Point classmates George Crook, left, and John Nugen.


I've seen this photo of Custer before. He looks sooooo much better without that awful mustache!!
 
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Another special case from my pinterest as he was no general officer but served as Quartermaster-General.

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Col. Abraham C. Myers (1811-1889); West Point, Class of 1833. He was married to the daughter of Gen. David E. Twiggs, whose quartermaster he was in Texas. Myers served as Quartermaster General of the Confederate States Army until 1863. Relieved from duty, feeling to be the Jewish scapegoat, the namesake of Fort Myers (Florida) spent the rest of the war in Georgia and then moved to Germany for a decade. One of his sons was Lt. Gen. John T. Myers. Here he is wearing brevet rank between 1846 and 1861.
 
Many are familiar with Texas Brig. Gen. Benjamin McCulloch, killed at Pea Ridge, but maybe not so much with his younger brother, Brig. Gen. Henry Eustace McCulloch.

The only known photographs of Henry are postwar, but I ran across the ambrotypes below on Cowan's Auctions that are thought to possibly be to be a wartime image of him in uniform and another in civilian clothing.

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Description from Cowan's Auctions:

Lot of 2, featuring a ninth plate ambrotype of a Confederate officer in uniform, his buttons lightly tinted gold, housed in full, octagonal thermoplastic case. Accompanied by a sixth plate ambrotype of the same man, younger in appearance, dressed in civilian attire, housed in full pressed paper case. These two images were found together with the collection of photographs of Benjamin McCulloch that descended directly in the McCulloch family, and it has been suggested that the subject may be Benjamin's brother, Henry Eustace McCulloch (1816-1895), who was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, and a Confederate Brigadier General. However, this identification cannot be confirmed.

Provenance: Descended Directly in the Family of Henry E. McCulloch, Brother to Benjamin McCulloch

Condition: Some loss to emulsion of ninth plate ambrotype as well as sixth plate ambrotype. Some wear to cases.
https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/n...ficer-possibly-henry-eustace-mcculloch-892330


They do bear a strong resemblance to his known postwar images.

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Like his older brother Ben, Henry had served as a Texas Ranger in antebellum years; he also served in the state legislature and as U.S. Marshall for the eastern district of Texas. At the war's outset he was commissioned a colonel and appointed command of the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles, which patrolled the Texas frontier and helped round up Federal outposts in the state during the early months of the war.

Henry then held various department and district commands in Texas throughout the later half of 1861 and into 1862. He was promoted to brigadier general in March 1862, organizing and briefly commanding a division of Texas troops until Maj. Gen. John G. Walker later assumed command. Henry then took command of the Third Brigade of Walker's Texas Division, leading them in the battle of Milliken's Bend, La., June 7, 1863. He then left the Texas Division the following month in July, assuming command of the Northern Sub-District of Texas throughout the remainder of the war, where he mainly oversaw protection against Indian raids as well as dealing with Confederate deserters and bushwhackers.
 
Another one from my pinterest, and he recently showed up here on CWT but I can't remember which thread.

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John S. Williams (1818-1898). The lawyer and politician commanded the 4th Kentucky Volunteers in Mexico and later joined the Confederacy, becoming a Brigadier leading a cavalry brigade in the west and south. He later became a U.S. Senator. Picture probably from around the Mexican-American War in 1846 or early 1847.
 
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Another one from my pinterest, in the only picture that I know of him.

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Charles S. Winder (1829-1862), West Point, Class of 1850. Despite a promising career, being promoted to Captain after merely 5 years of service and less than a year as 1st Lieutenant, the Marylander joined the Confederacy. He commanded the Stonewall Brigade, much to the dislike of his men, when he was mortally wounded at Cedar Mountain. Here depicted as 1st Lieutenant in 1854 or 1855.
 
And next one from my pinterest.

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Walter H. Stevens (1827-1867), West Point, Class of 1848. The New Yorker was dismissed when he tried to resign and joined the CSA as a high-profile engineer. Becoming a Brigadier in 1864; among others he had served as Chief Engineer to Johnston, Bragg and Lee. After the war he became a railroad engineer in Mexico where he died of yellow fever. Here depicted as army officer between 1848 and 1861.
 
And another one from my pinterest.

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Earl Van Dorn (1820-1863); West Point, Class of 1842. He´d become a Confederate Major General, serving with very mixed results, and eventually was murdered. Here supposedly as junior officer sometime between 1842 and 1860.
Van Dorn achieved a degree of fame in the antebellum U.S. Army chasing Indians in Texas; I'd suspect this photo of him dates to around that period, ca. 1850 or slightly later. He's wearing the single-breasted frock coat of a company-grade officer, lieutenant or captain; the sash worn over-the-shoulder in this fashion denoted a junior officer serving as regimental officer of the day. His sword is a non-regulation presentation sword, likely given for service in either Mexico or against the hostiles.
 
Next from my pinterest, apparently from the collection of Phil Graf.

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Washington L. Elliott (1825-1888). A West Point alumni of the Class of 1845, he left a year earlier without graduating but received a commission for Mexico nonetheless. During the civil war he served as staff and cavalry officer, becoming a Brigadier in 1862 and for a time commanding the cavalry of the Army of Virginia and the Army of the Cumberland. Afterwards he stayed in the army until 1879 and then became a banker. Here depicted as Lieutenant around 1853.
 
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