This is Not Morris Greenwall

[TerryB]

This Brady image has long been mistaken for Lt. Greenwall of the 10th La Inf. The age of the man is wrong, the rank is wrong and the style of uniform is wrong. Morris resigned his commission Jan 31, 1862 and became a detective. Though conscripted into the Louisiana Zouave Bttn (Coppens) in 1864 there is no evidence that he reported for duty. Listed as AWOL, he was arrested in New York City on Nov 3, 1864 and released in Dec. The man in the image is most likely R.W. Greenwall who did achieve the rank of colonel and was captured in Baton Rouge in 1863 and held a POW until the end of the war. He was born in 1822 and was said to be 43 at the time of his capture. Brady had studios in both Boston and New York, both places where R.W. Greenwall, Louisiana Cavalry was held.

 

[TotallyNotAConfederateAnd]

I actually did not know that. Quite interesting.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Is he wearing a glove on one hand (the one closest to the camera) and his other hand is bare? That is the way it looks to me.

 

[chubachus]

LOC: "Photo shows Lieutenant Morris Greenwall of Co. A, 10th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, in uniform (Source: Terry Baker, Civil War Mysteries & More blog post, May 20, 2014, www.civilwarmysteriesampmore.com)."

The website has been down for years, at least since 2019. Haven't been able to access the blog post on the photo in question yet unfortunately.

EDIT- Wait, was that your website OP? If so, what was your blog post on him then about?

 

[TerryB]

LOC: "Photo shows Lieutenant Morris Greenwall of Co. A, 10th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, in uniform (Source: Terry Baker, Civil War Mysteries & More blog post, May 20, 2014, www.civilwarmysteriesampmore.com)."

The website has been down for years, at least since 2019. Haven't been able to access the blog post on the photo in question yet unfortunately.

EDIT- Wait, was that your website OP? If so, what was your blog post on him then about?

I forgot to renew my domain name so I don't have that blog any more. In those days I bought into the man being Morris Greenwall, but after years of research, I have come to my conclusion as posted here . That blog post can be found on this site, too. And I've made a lot of updates as I got new info. https://civilwartalk.com/threads/was-this-man-a-double-agent-nyc-1864.141488/page-3#post-2952949

 

[TerryB]

Is he wearing a glove on one hand (the one closest to the camera) and his other hand is bare? That is the way it looks to me.

I think you're right.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

This Brady image has long been mistaken for Lt. Greenwall of the 10th La Inf.

That makes sense, looking at the featured photo. Although Lt. Morris Greenwall, Co. A, 10th LA Infantry, never attained a higher rank, it seems the pictured individual is wearing a uniform showing a collar badge for the rank of Lt-Col.. The only other highest ranking LA officer found with this same last name was Capt. R. W. Greenwall, Co. F, 3rd LA Cavalry but the shown subject appears to be wearing an infantry officer's frock coat.

As a possible clue, thought the pictured individual appears to be of Southern European origins. Interestingly, the 10th LA Infantry, known as 'Lee's Foreign Legion', contained many foreign-born soldiers, including many Greeks and Italians.

However, the featured individual's identity remains somewhat of a mystery, because of the above discrepancies found.

 

[TerryB]

That makes sense, looking at the featured photo. Although Lt. Morris Greenwall, Co. A, 10th LA Infantry, never attained a higher rank, it seems the pictured individual is wearing a uniform showing a collar badge for the rank of Lt-Col.. The only other highest ranking LA officer found with this same last name was Capt. R. W. Greenwall, Co. F, 3rd LA Cavalry but the shown subject appears to be wearing an infantry officer's frock coat.

As a possible clue, thought the pictured individual appears to be of Southern European origins. Interestingly, the 10th LA Infantry, known as 'Lee's Foreign Legion', contained many foreign-born soldiers, including many Greeks and Italians.

However, the featured individual's identity remains somewhat of a mystery, because of the above discrepancies found.

Yes, I agree. It just seems that R.W. Greenwall is a far better fit. The uniform could be a photographers costume. It almost looks like it just came out of a trunk.

 

[7thWisconsin]

Wait! Now I want to know more about this Morris Greenwall the detective!!! Was he a real gumshoe, like finding out if 19th century spouses were cheating, or is "detective" a euphemism for "spy?" What became of him?

 

[Robert Gray]

That makes sense, looking at the featured photo. Although Lt. Morris Greenwall, Co. A, 10th LA Infantry, never attained a higher rank, it seems the pictured individual is wearing a uniform showing a collar badge for the rank of Lt-Col.. The only other highest ranking LA officer found with this same last name was Capt. R. W. Greenwall, Co. F, 3rd LA Cavalry but the shown subject appears to be wearing an infantry officer's frock coat.

As a possible clue, thought the pictured individual appears to be of Southern European origins. Interestingly, the 10th LA Infantry, known as 'Lee's Foreign Legion', contained many foreign-born soldiers, including many Greeks and Italians.

However, the featured individual's identity remains somewhat of a mystery, because of the above discrepancies found.

The officer in question is wearing the rank of Captain, as per Confederate uniform regulations.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

The officer in question is wearing the rank of Captain, as per Confederate uniform regulations.

My error - you are correct. The worn collar badge of three parallel horizontal bars denotes the rank of 'Captain'. Thanks.

 

[TerryB]

Wait! Now I want to know more about this Morris Greenwall the detective!!! Was he a real gumshoe, like finding out if 19th century spouses were cheating, or is "detective" a euphemism for "spy?" What became of him?

See the thread I linked in my above reply to Chubachus.

 

[TerryB]

This Brady image has long been mistaken for Lt. Greenwall of the 10th La Inf. The age of the man is wrong, the rank is wrong and the style of uniform is wrong. Morris resigned his commission Jan 31, 1862 and became a detective. Though conscripted into the Louisiana Zouave Bttn (Coppens) in 1864 there is no evidence that he reported for duty. Listed as AWOL, he was arrested in New York City on Nov 3, 1864 and released in Dec. The man in the image is most likely R.W. Greenwall who did achieve the rank of colonel and was captured in Baton Rouge in 1863 and held a POW until the end of the war. He was born in 1822 and was said to be 43 at the time of his capture. Brady had studios in both Boston and New York, both places where R.W. Greenwall, Louisiana Cavalry was held.

View attachment 585096

Morris was released in Dec 1864 because 1) they found nothing illegal on him, and 2) he claimed to have info he wanted to trade. They put him to work aiding the police to track down arsonists (New York City) and raiders (Confederate agents from Canada crossing the border to rob banks, eg. St Albans).

 

[TerryB]

Wait! Now I want to know more about this Morris Greenwall the detective!!! Was he a real gumshoe, like finding out if 19th century spouses were cheating, or is "detective" a euphemism for "spy?" What became of him?

He did track down some perps who murdered their landlady in SC. He found them in Montgomery and brought them in irons to Columbia, SC.

 

[gary]

Though conscripted into the Louisiana Zouave Bttn (Coppens) in 1864 there is no evidence that he reported for duty. Listed as AWOL, he was arrested in New York City on Nov 3, 1864 and released in Dec. T

I'm confused. How does one go AWOL from a Louisiana unit and then get arrested in NYC for being AWOL? Or was that Zouave Battalion a Union unit? That would raise another question. When the Union began a draft, they did it in captured Confederate territory? I'm befuddled.

 

[TerryB]

I'm confused. How does one go AWOL from a Louisiana unit and then get arrested in NYC for being AWOL? Or was that Zouave Battalion a Union unit? That would raise another question. When the Union began a draft, they did it in captured Confederate territory? I'm befuddled.

He goes AWOL and ends up in Texas. His family had business along the New Orleans, Galveston, Matamoros line. The Rusk County Enrolling officers knew he was in Texas and knew his mandate as a Secret and Special Detective had expired in January so they were looking into whether to conscript him in Texas. They did not know he was AWOL from Virginia. Whatever happened, he shows up in New York on Oct 25 and applies for a passport. The "clerk" who okayed his app was a Cuban Revolutionary named Antonio L Bridat. He's then arrested on Nov 3 while trying to board a ship named Matanzas for Havana. He was searched twice, including ship baggage and bursar account. They found nothing but still detained him as a suspected Rebel spy. My guess is he was on a clandestine mission to make contact with Pro-Confederates in Havana. Oct 25 is the first meeting of the NYC arsonists and I think he attended. His information most likely led to the arrest of NYC arsonist Robert Cobb Kennedy. So basically, he was "turned."

 

[TerryB]

By the way, I'm writing a 2-part novel about all this. If I can't find documentation for some event, I go with what I feel is the most likely explanation. The title of the novel is Turning Point.

 

[TerryB]

The hunt for Robert Cobb Kennedy. That's Morris seated on the left. This is not a graphic novel but I do ask Copilot to create scenes in the book.