A tintype of Augustus Bigelow Hayes of the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry embedded in a piece of hardtack.
http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/...n-500-civil-war-objects-get-a-fresh-look.html
From the article:
"I had the opportunity to write about this hardtack tintype frame. It was owned by Augustus Bigelow Hayes, who signed up in the First Ohio Volunteers at the age of 17. He fought in battles across the Western theater and was wounded at the Battle of Stones River, Tennessee, in 1862, but recovered to become a successful businessman and politician back home in Ohio.
He had this tintype portrait taken after his injury, posing as if to say, "It'll take more than that to kill me." In the winter of 1864-1865, Hayes was issued this piece of hardtack, the rock-hard cracker that was a mainstay of soldier's rations, and he carved out its center to form a frame for his soldier's portrait. He then took it home after the war, where it miraculously survived until the family gave it to the museum in 1979.
I like this object because it is a small story which represents larger concepts in American and Civil War history: the soldier's experience, the technology and importance of photography in American culture, and the memory and legacy of the war."
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