Help Please Identifying Soldier Photos

It sounds like they are both ambrotype photos if the emulsion is on glass for both.
@lupaglupa could your cousin place a piece of black paper behind the glass plate and see if any additional detail shows up when he takes a photo of the plates against the black background? Ive read that sometimes, when the emulsion starts to flake and look grainy, placing against a solid black background can help bring our some details that aren't readily apparent otherwise. EDIT TO ADD: He shouldn't leave the paper behind the glass -- just take a photo of it.
 
The Confederate brothers served 1) as a 2nd Lt (later Captain) in the 20th Alabama; 2) as a private in the 41st Tennessee Infantry. The Union brother was a 1st Lt. in the 1st Reg't Middle Tennessee Cavalry.
Early war both sides wielded fierce weapons for the camera
If the individual soldier photo is early war, can the list of suspects be narrowed down by determining when they enlisted or the rank of the soldier in the photo?
 
@lupaglupa could your cousin place a piece of black paper behind the glass plate and see if any additional detail shows up when he takes a photo of the plates against the black background? Ive read that sometimes, when the emulsion starts to flake and look grainy, placing against a solid black background can help bring our some details that aren't readily apparent otherwise. EDIT TO ADD: He shouldn't leave the paper behind the glass -- just take a photo of it.
The cousin who took the photos doesn't own them, they belong to yet another cousin. We are going to try and get that branch of the family to take new, better photo copies.
 
Well, I don't think the enlisted dates will help much. Two are early war and one is not far off.

I see that two of the suspects were officers. What were they early in the war, officers or enlisted men? And is the soldier pictured enlisted or officer? Maybe someone can tell.
 
Well, I don't think the enlisted dates will help much. Two are early war and one is not far off.

I see that two of the suspects were officers. What were they early in the war, officers or enlisted men? And is the soldier pictured enlisted or officer? Maybe someone can tell.
I think until we have a better print of the photo (if that is even possible) we will be hard pressed to make a good identification
 
Great pics! My impression was early war Southerner for the portrait, and maybe a group of Confederate officers, possibly as late as 1863.
 
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