Is This a Yank or a Reb?

[James N.]

I think he's probably Union, partly because of the blue tint to his trousers, and mostly because it's a sixth-plate tintype; I've seen FAR more Union than Confederate tintypes, and it's my contention that this newer process hadn't spread far into the South by wartime. Notice the evidence of this being made in a field studio, notably the uneven way the plate has been snipped out by the photographer, not apparant until it was removed from the case.

WHY is the subject SO casually dressed - he's not even wearing accouterments!? I imagine he was strolling around in camp and found a throng waiting for a turn at the photographer's tent or wagon; rather than lose his place ( and opportunity ), he went for it "as is"! In this case, his musket is almost certainly not his own; whether "borrowed" from one of his pards or a true photographer's prop is impossible to say.

 

[Yankeedave]

His hat looks yankee.