Uniform ID

[JohnBJr]

Was wondering if anybody can ID this uniform.
Pretty sure he was a confederate soldier. We think in the 34th Alabama Infantry.
The uniform in the painting does not look confederate to me. I would not think a confederate would allow
artistic license of this degree.

 

[TerryB]

Many Alabama units, as well as other states, started the war wearing blue uniforms.

 

[RedRover]

Was wondering if anybody can ID this uniform.
Pretty sure he was a confederate soldier. We think in the 34th Alabama Infantry.
The uniform in the painting does not look confederate to me. I would not think a confederate would allow
artistic license of this degree.

View attachment 590032

Looks consistent with the pre-and-early war uniform of an Alabama Volunteer Militia company, perhaps organized into the Alabama Volunteer Corps in in 1861, etc.

Examples of Alabama uniforms, ca. 1861, of similar pattern. At left the "Auburn Guards" (in 1861 served with the 1st Alabama and later with the 37th Alabama Volunteers); and at right the "Montgomery True Blues"... which served with the 4th Alabama Volunteers, CSA.

Below, at left, uniform of the "Autauga Rifles" which served with the 6th Alabama Volunteer Regiment. And at right, a corporal with the 30th Alabama with "AVC" (For Alabama Volunteer Corps) on his cap...

 

[Rhea Cole]

The outline of Grant's haircut in this photo rang a bell. Note the buttons up against the collar.

Grant was very camera shy. For such an important figure there are a remarkably small number of images of him.

This drawing of Grant at Chattanooga Adolph Metzner is the only image from life made during that period of time.

I think the image in question is a grossly overpainted copy of Grant as a Major General.

In this image the four button pattern indicates a Lieutenant General.

My supposition is that in order to sell sets of famous individuals, a Major General photo was used to create an imagined Lieutenant General uniform.

No doubt the impressive array of buttons from a militia uniform from RedRover's post was the inspiration. The hair poofing out over his ears is a profile that sprang to mind.

 

[R. Porter]

I don't think he's Grant. His nose looks too small and beard does not come up to bottom lip. He does look similar and the haircut looks the same.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I don't think he's Grant. His nose looks too small and beard does not come up to bottom lip. He does look similar and the haircut looks the same.

This image was not made by a gifted artist.

FYI: Winslow Homer's definition of a portrait is a painting where the nose doesn't look right.

 

[R. Porter]

This image was not made by a gifted artist.

FYI: Winslow Homer's definition of a portrait is a painting where the nose doesn't look right.

John Singer Sargent said, "A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth".

A portrait is a painting with

“A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth”

fixquotes.com

He was, after all, a Sargent, and thus out-ranked Homer.

I gather that you have already decided that this is an image of Grant. The original post suggests a high degree of confidence that this individual was a soldier from Alabama. We should ask why. Several Alabama uniforms from the early Civil War period have been illustrated which show a somewhat similar button pattern but without the shoulder straps. The columns of buttons on the uniform illustrations do not all appear to be straight up and down with top-most buttons up on the shoulders. Is the uniform depiction accurate? As indicated, the illustration is not made by a gifted artist and the rendering of the uniform may be a point in favor of interpreting the illustration to be of Grant.

There were hundreds of thousands who served during the Civil War. Similar hair styles and physical appearances are bound to have occurred. On the other hand, depictions of Grant must have been freely available both north and south for an artist to try and copy. If this is a painted-over photograph, it's interpretation might be much different than if it is a painting or pastel sketch.

I think we need more information about the portrait and why the original poster feels the subject is from Alabama. Does the original poster have an idea of the subject's identity? Until we know more, anything is possible.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Based on this image alone, I don't think there is any way to identify the uniform. This is a painted photo, or a crayon photo, and the purpose of adding the pigment is to obscure (or alter) the original image. It looks to me that the shoulder boards may have been added.

 

[Rhea Cole]

John Singer Sargent said, "A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth".

A portrait is a painting with

“A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth”

fixquotes.com

He was, after all, a Sargent, and thus out-ranked Homer.

I gather that you have already decided that this is an image of Grant. The original post suggests a high degree of confidence that this individual was a soldier from Alabama. We should ask why. Several Alabama uniforms from the early Civil War period have been illustrated which show a somewhat similar button pattern but without the shoulder straps. The columns of buttons on the uniform illustrations do not all appear to be straight up and down with top-most buttons up on the shoulders. Is the uniform depiction accurate? As indicated, the illustration is not made by a gifted artist and the rendering of the uniform may be a point in favor of interpreting the illustration to be of Grant.

There were hundreds of thousands who served during the Civil War. Similar hair styles and physical appearances are bound to have occurred. On the other hand, depictions of Grant must have been freely available both north and south for an artist to try and copy. If this is a painted-over photograph, it's interpretation might be much different than if it is a painting or pastel sketch.

I think we need more information about the portrait and why the original poster feels the subject is from Alabama. Does the original poster have an idea of the subject's identity? Until we know more, anything is possible.

I was a commercial artist most of my life, so this is a subject that I have a professional approach to.

If you overlay the two images, the outline is the same. The fact that an amateur would have given Grant a smudge for a nose is not remarkable.

Your assumption that Grant's image was commonly available is not supported by the facts. Unlike John C. Freemont, for example, Grant avoided having his image floated or drawn by artists throughout his career.

This aversion is easy to search. From the day when he was appointed to command of a regiment until he came over the mountains to take command of the army there are only a handful of images. From the date when he was promoted to command of the Department of the Mississippi until he arrived in Washington, Adolph Metzner's drawing is unique.

The amateurish rendering of Grant is not unusual. All over the country booklets with reproductions of carte de visits were published. Some down right fanciful renderings filled in where a photo or wood block engraving from Leslies or Harpers was not available for copying.

Having examined this amateurish rendering it would be useful to see what the gifted "Special Correspondent" artists for Leslies Illustrated submitted. When he retired, what we would call the art director took the archive of drawings home with him. There are (+/-) 300 Civil War submissions.

These men were hyperphantasic. What that means is that they were 1% of the 5% of humanity who have that singular brain architecture. Their powers of observation & ability to convert them into images on a page is our lens into what the Civil War looked like. This is a fascinating resource. See more here.

Link

Browse Items · The Becker Collection

 

[lelliott19]

Was wondering if anybody can ID this uniform.
Pretty sure he was a confederate soldier. We think in the 34th Alabama Infantry.
The uniform in the painting does not look confederate to me. I would not think a confederate would allow
artistic license of this degree.

View attachment 590032

Is there a name associated with this portrait? As @Bruce Vail noted, this is a "crayon portrait" which means detail is limited. However, as others have noted, a number of pre-war Alabama militia units did have uniforms similar to this and specifically, the piping along the edge of the lapel is intriguing. The shoulder straps appear to have been added by the artist and were most likely not part of the original photograph from which the "crayon portrait" was created. Perhaps the artist added them to indicate rank since the subject's collar is not visible.

If there is a name that might be associated with the portrait, members could perhaps provide additional details. Also, if there were Union soldiers in the family, their names. It's very much like a puzzle and to potentially solve it, requires as much information as possible. Even if it is never ID'd, it's so wonderful that your family has it and is preserving it. Thank you for sharing it.

 

[on again]

34 alabama pictures

GENERATIONS: PEPPER- 34th Alabama Infantry

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