More Civil War participants at a younger age

Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Location
Germany
acushing-westpoint1861-jpg.jpg


Hey folks,

I thought about a continuation of the Generals at a younger age thread that @AUG created. I for one like the earlier pictures of generals, because even they were young once and had a live before those four years that brought us together here on CWT. But there are earlier pictures of other civil war participants to be found. Lower-ranking officers, including some wearing stars years after the war, and Privates and NCOs and of course all the corresponding navy guys are surely worth a look, too - be it as toddlers or in some uniform already.

Now in the way of @Mike Serpa and his excellent picture threads, of which the most recent Union Navy personnel. One a day. just began a few days ago, I´d like to post one a day though I´ll not have them in alpabetical order. I have only few pictures, mostly collected on my pinterest (and some special cases already used in Aug's thread), and of those I have size and quality are very very mixed which of course means that I´ll look for better versions of same pictures but often find none. Likewise photography grew with time so of course there were fewer before the war and even less for lower classes; and of those that were made only a fraction survived to this day or have an identification. So as I only have two eyes and the world is large I would very much like other people to participate in this thread as well.

Which means if you have or find pre-war pictures of civil war participants who weren`t generals during the war (while those would be nice for the generals thread which could use more people taking part) please don`t hesitate and post the pictures right away.


And why not start with a rather famous one? Courtesy of Mike Serpa and his Before & After: Cushing + extra photos thread we have Alonzo Cushing (1841-1863) as cadet at West Point from which he graduated in June 1861. He died as Lieutenant at Gettysburg, serving in the Union artillery opposite the PPT charge. Cushing posthumously received the Medal of Honor ... in 2014, with a slight delay of 151 years.
 
This is a good idea for a thread! I hope you know you have my support. One a day can get wearisome. 151 years is a long time. I think Cushing's Sgt. received a MOH a long time ago?...

Thank you. And you are correct about the Sergeant. Frederick Füger got his Medal of Honor comparably quick ... in 1897, even before retirement.
 
This should be good! Thank you again @GELongstreet for all your contributions to my other thread. I do like reading about the lesser-known, if not all but forgotten officers and enlisted men more so than the big-name generals though, so I'll be looking forward to what gets posted here. Here's to the new thread! :smile coffee:


This is one photo I already had bookmarked. Khleber Miller (K.M.) Van Zandt (on the right), taken sometime during the early 1850s while he was attending Franklin College in Tennessee. He was in his mid-teens at the time. Van Zandt was originally from Franklin County, TN, but moved to Harrison County, TX, during his childhood, returning there after he graduated from college. In 1861 he helped organize Company D of the 7th Texas Infantry, was elected captain and later promoted to major, serving with the regiment until resigning in June 1864.

KMonrightduringcollege.jpg

http://www.logcabinvillage.org/vanzandtcottage.html

I've posted some more info on Van Zandt and a photo of him in uniform Here.
 
Last edited:
The thing about Cushing was that he was killed at Gettysburg. During the war they only awarded a few MOH's to those killed, and I believe all of them were The Great Locomotive Chase, Andrew's Raiders. For some reason one or two guys did not get the medal. The rest of the raiders did. Cushing deserved the medal and then some, it just took him awhile to get it. I would there are others out there who deserved it as well.
 
The thing about Cushing was that he was killed at Gettysburg. During the war they only awarded a few MOH's to those killed, and I believe all of them were The Great Locomotive Chase, Andrew's Raiders. ...

Not that few. 19 got the MOH for the Gettysburg Campaign before the war ended, all but three of those were still alive.
 
The thing about Cushing was that he was killed at Gettysburg. During the war they only awarded a few MOH's to those killed, and I believe all of them were The Great Locomotive Chase, Andrew's Raiders. For some reason one or two guys did not get the medal. The rest of the raiders did. Cushing deserved the medal and then some, it just took him awhile to get it. I would there are others out there who deserved it as well.
Although they to deserved it, the others were not enlisted military, but civilians.
 
This is one photo I already had bookmarked. Khleber Miller (K.M.) Van Zandt (on the right), taken sometime during the early 1850s while he was attending Franklin College in Tennessee. He was in his mid-teens at the time. Van Zandt was originally from Franklin County, TN, but moved to Harrison County, TX, during his childhood, returning there after he graduated from college. In 1861 he helped organize Company D of the 7th Texas Infantry, was elected captain and later promoted to major, serving with the regiment until resigning in June 1864...

A word about Van Zandt's unusual first name: Louis Kleber was a general in France's Revolutionary army and served under Napoleon as a division commander during his ill-fated 1798-99 expedition to Egypt. He was not a member of then-General Bonaparte's inner circle and was stiffed when Napoleon returned without warning or notice to France by slipping through the British navy's blockade, leaving poor Kleber in command of the stranded army. If that wasn't bad enough, Kleber was ultimately assassinated by a Moslem fanatic who was subsequently executed for the deed by being impaled! If Kleber had survived and been repatriated to France following the surrender of the Army of the Orient, it's likely he would've eventually been either: executed as an opponent of the new Emperor; or been made another of the 26 generals raised to the rank of Marshal of the Empire. At the time of the Civil War all this was well-known recent history and the leaders of the French Revolution and Empire were considered heroes suitable for naming children after.
 
Captain_Charles_John_Biddle.png


Charles John Biddle (1819-1873) as Captain during the Mexican-American War, commanding a company of the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. During the civil war the well-born lawyer became Colonel and briefly commanded the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles (13th PA Reserves). However he declined a promotion to Brigadier General and resigned in 1862, being elected to Congress.

Picture from the wikimedia commons.
 
Captain_Charles_John_Biddle.png


Charles John Biddle (1819-1873) as Captain during the Mexican-American War, commanding a company of the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. During the civil war the well-born lawyer became Colonel and briefly commanded the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles (13th PA Reserves). However he declined a promotion to Brigadier General and resigned in 1862, being elected to Congress.

Picture from the wikimedia commons.
A very nice photo. Much better than the one at his wikipedia entry.
 
A very nice photo. Much better than the one at his wikipedia entry.
Be sure to notice Biddle's very non-regulation and likely British sword belt buckle. (The French also used this style, but theirs tended to have Medusa heads instead of lion's heads on them.) The buckle part is the tiny S-shaped "snake" that engages a loop on the opposite plate. I'll add that similar buckles were U. S. regulation for enlisted artillerymen, but those had U.S. and a stack of muskets or crossed cannon barrels on them.
 
rufus-dawes-bcb780e4-67e4-4c8a-9afa-675ef174364-resize-750.jpg


This Dapper Dan is Rufus Dawes (1838-1899), here as student at the Marietta College, 1859. He is better known as Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, famously serving at Gettysburg. He declined further promotion, though being brevetted Brigadier General, and left the army in 1864. He also became a Congressman, like apparently everybody, while his son Charles P. Dawes became Vice President.

Picture from his entry at Alchetron.
 
rufus-dawes-bcb780e4-67e4-4c8a-9afa-675ef174364-resize-750.jpg


This Dapper Dan is Rufus Dawes (1838-1899), here as student at the Marietta College, 1859. He is better known as Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, famously serving at Gettysburg. He declined further promotion, though being brevetted Brigadier General, and left the army in 1864. He also became a Congressman, like apparently everybody, while his son Charles P. Dawes became Vice President.

Picture from his entry at Alchetron.
I love that picture of the young Dawes.
 
Captain-Percival-Drayton.jpg


Not to take away from Union Navy personnel. One a day. but it is one of his pre-war pictures so he is fair game.

Percival Drayton (1812-1865) as freshly-promoted Commander in 1855. Having participated in the Paraquay Expedition; during the civil war the South Carolinian served as Captain in the Union Navy. He was the brother of Confederate Gen. Thomas F. Drayton, the two facing each other at the Battle of Port Royal.

Picture from the Gibbes Museum of Art.
 
Last edited:
Captain-Percival-Drayton.jpg


Not to take away from Union Navy personnel. One a day. but it is one of his pre-war pictures so he is fair game.

Percival Drayton (1812-1865) as freshly-promoted Commander in 1855. Having participated in the Paraquay Expedition; during the civil war the South Carolinian served as Captain in the Union Navy. He was the brother of Confederate Gen. Thomas F. Drayton, the two facing each other at the Battle of Port Royal.

Picture from the Gibbes Museum of Art.
Thanks for posting this photo. Different (older) than the one I have of Drayton.
 
Charles John Biddle (1819-1873) as Captain during the Mexican-American War, commanding a company of the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. During the civil war the well-born lawyer became Colonel and briefly commanded the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles (13th PA Reserves). However he declined a promotion to Brigadier General and resigned in 1862, being elected to Congress.
Found this picture of Biddle on his wikipedia page:

Charles_John_Biddle_by_Robert_Cornelius_c1840.jpg


According to the photo description, it's a sixth-plate daguerreotype, created circa 1840.
 
Captain-Percival-Drayton.jpg


Not to take away from Union Navy personnel. One a day. but it is one of his pre-war pictures so he is fair game.

Percival Drayton (1812-1865) as freshly-promoted Commander in 1855. Having participated in the Paraquay Expedition; during the civil war the South Carolinian served as Captain in the Union Navy. He was the brother of Confederate Gen. Thomas F. Drayton, the two facing each other at the Battle of Port Royal.

Picture from the Gibbes Museum of Art.
Drayton's very non-regulation "navy" sword is very interesting! It has the backstrap and eagle-head pommel of the former M.1840 sword, but attached to a British-style semi-basket hilt with a folding counterguard, very much like the hilt of a regulation British naval officer's sword, which is still regulation for them.
 
Back
Top