Johnny Reb

[Manassas 1861]

Johnny Reb, wearing rags. This is the stereotypical Confederate which a lot of people think of when then think about Confederates. LOC.

 

[Lampasas Bill]

Any marking on the back?

 

[Manassas 1861]

The Library of Congress doesn't show the back of the photographs.

 

[Borderruffian]

Gotta be late war.

 

[Manassas 1861]

Gotta be late war.

Oh absolutely.

 

[Bentonville]

Anyone notice he only has the one shoe? I'm thinking this could be staged. That being said it is really cool.

 

[Pollaco]

Anyone notice he only has the one shoe? I'm thinking this could be staged. That being said it is really cool.

Of course it was staged,you mean some one actually thought it might be for real? Notice how well fed our starving reb-in-rags appears?

 

[UCVRelics]

That was yankee propaganda. I agree with @Polloco

 

[iron bender]

....and the ragged Reb had money for a pic... You'd think he'd save it for another shoe. Interesting point in op's pic is the blown out brogan under the stool

 

[Bentonville]

....and the ragged Reb had money for a pic... You'd think he'd save it for another shoe. Interesting point in op's pic is the blown out brogan under the stool

I had not noticed that. This makes the photo even better.

 

[captaindrew]

Yup, this one is way over the top. There's a few others out there like it but this one takes the cake. The model looks like he can barely keep a straight face. There's plenty of photos of actual Confederates, casualties and freshly taken prisoners, in the late stages of the war to prove wrong the shoeless rags myth. Were there times after a hard campaign when the boys on both sides looked pretty ragged? Of course, but this one is plain silly.

 

[Pollaco]

I'm sure it and others like it helped spread the shoeless ragged myth. It may also have been used by "Hollywood" in how they depicted Hillbillies.Some people actually believed it, and some still do.

 

[JackADriscoll]

Here's the back

 

[Pollaco]

Thank you , Manassas 1861 for exposing that photo by bringing it to our attention.

 

[Old_Breck]

This is a photograph taken in a northern studio to mock Confederates by portraying them as ragamuffins. Its often passed of as a POW photo. There is a similar one depicting a 'Confederate zouave' with rolled up laundry on his back in place of a knapsack.

 

[Seeking34]

Ragged rebs is a myth. By 1864 your average confederate was as well equipped as your average unionist.

 

[Seeking34]

I'm sure it and others like it helped spread the shoeless ragged myth. It may also have been used by "Hollywood" in how they depicted Hillbillies.Some people actually believed it, and some still do.

People in California asked me if I bought shoes just for the occasion. On my trip there once.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Definitely looks staged (to me), like a bit tongue-in-cheek.

The struck pose and cheeky alert facial expression does not appear congruent with the ragged attire worn.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Oh my goodness - that´s clearly staged, as everybody else has commented. Great post of a period photo, though. It´s a good reminder that people in the past had a sense of humor. I´ve seen newspaper items, memoir quotes and novelty images held up as evidence of how things were done in the 1860s, without considering that the item was intended to be satire or comic. (I used to be able to quote Hartack and Coffee chapter and verse, without realizing that some of the things I was quoting were written to be funny.) They took gag photos just like we do. Well, they had to pose a little longer and their editing tools were a little more primitive.

 

[east_beast]

Ragged rebs is a myth. By 1864 your average confederate was as well equipped as your average unionist.

It's overplayed but might wanna read some of the first hand reports of Confederate POWs in awe (and terror for their comrades still back in the trenches) as they saw all the reserves, fresh horses, and supplies as they were led behind Union lines at Petersburg. That's when they realized the war was unwinnable for their side.