I downloaded the 75MB high-res version (a TIFF) of the image from the Library of Congress's website, and the cap insignia is that of the Fifth Army Corps.
A few days ago I ran a Google search on my last name, a German last name, and I inquired as to the meaning of that last name in English. Harvard has recently digitized its law library's CaseLaw database and this has thrown the algorithms for a loop. Google came back with a legal citation, Guth v Lubach, involving my great grandfather's older brother and the libel lawsuit filed against him by his father-in-law in 1887.
My great great grandfather died in the Civil War leaving his widow with four dependent children, two boys born in Prussia, a girl born in Wisconsin shortly before the war began and another son born two years into the war. She applied for a widow's pension which was denied because her marriage took place in East Brandenburg and the US had no record of it. After she married her next door neighbor, a widower, the four children became wards of their stepfather who received a benefit for each of them until they reached the age of 21. The eldest, Charles, was 12 at the end of the war. A few years later he was apprenticed to a business partner of one of his stepfather's brothers, a man who owned a lumberyard. Nick was also treasurer of the local Turnverein chapter of which the stepfather's brother was founder and president. Charles was the same age as Nick's son, Nick Jr, and the boys were put to work in 1875 on a major overhaul of the town's gristmill to the extent that in 1887 they could rightfully call themselves millwrights. Nick Jr. also had a twin sister, Kate, who Charles married when the three of them turned 21. Nick Jr. and Kate had also had an older sister, Lizzie, two years older than they, who died at the age of seventeen which would have been roughly 1868.
By 1890 Charles and Kate had five children, three boys and two girls, who had moved with them to Ohio sometime shortly after the libel lawsuit filed against him by his father-in-law in 1887. Apparently Charles had expressed doubts about the paternity of at least one if not all of his brood based on knowledge he had acquired concerning the unfortunate demise of a sister-in-law which may have preceded his acquaintance with the family and by about three years the birth of his oldest daughter. He was convinced that his wife had been "used" and that was the verb the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin required seven pages to parse. The case still stands and is still in use.
Thank you for telling us more about this sketch. I grew up in Culpeper and the war washed back and forth across it many time. I was telling some fifth graders about the Battle of Brandy Station once, and they were so engrossed, a young man asked, “Did you see any dead bodies, Mrs. Crockett?!” :-) The book * Seasons of War: The Ordeal of the Confederate Community, 1861-1865* c1995 by Daniel E. Sutherland, covers the war as it affected Culpeper. Halfway between Washington and Richmond, Culpeper was always in the way.
And regarding the spelling “Culpepper” our school district once had to send new school busses back to correct the spelling. :-D
Sutherland's book is a great source on the war in Virginia. If we could identify the soldier's corps badge, we could probably locate the area where the sketch was done.
There is a sense in which I prefer the many sketch artist renderings to the photographs and paintings. One of my favorites, reflecting my interest in Grant, is a drawing of him whittling in the Wilderness. My copy was given to me by Emory Thomas, 30+ years ago. [I tried to post a copy here, but the app doesn't let me. 😒)
Hi Jim. I think I know the one you are referring to. It shows Grant sitting whittling away while a group of officers converse in the distance. Nice to have a copy gifted from Emory Thomas.
This young soldier looks young and innocent. Oh, how I wish humans would learn how to coexist without needing to kill each other. Having raised three sons and knowing their kind and loving hearts, I can’t imagine them as soldiers killing other human beings.
I downloaded the 75MB high-res version (a TIFF) of the image from the Library of Congress's website, and the cap insignia is that of the Fifth Army Corps.
A few days ago I ran a Google search on my last name, a German last name, and I inquired as to the meaning of that last name in English. Harvard has recently digitized its law library's CaseLaw database and this has thrown the algorithms for a loop. Google came back with a legal citation, Guth v Lubach, involving my great grandfather's older brother and the libel lawsuit filed against him by his father-in-law in 1887.
My great great grandfather died in the Civil War leaving his widow with four dependent children, two boys born in Prussia, a girl born in Wisconsin shortly before the war began and another son born two years into the war. She applied for a widow's pension which was denied because her marriage took place in East Brandenburg and the US had no record of it. After she married her next door neighbor, a widower, the four children became wards of their stepfather who received a benefit for each of them until they reached the age of 21. The eldest, Charles, was 12 at the end of the war. A few years later he was apprenticed to a business partner of one of his stepfather's brothers, a man who owned a lumberyard. Nick was also treasurer of the local Turnverein chapter of which the stepfather's brother was founder and president. Charles was the same age as Nick's son, Nick Jr, and the boys were put to work in 1875 on a major overhaul of the town's gristmill to the extent that in 1887 they could rightfully call themselves millwrights. Nick Jr. also had a twin sister, Kate, who Charles married when the three of them turned 21. Nick Jr. and Kate had also had an older sister, Lizzie, two years older than they, who died at the age of seventeen which would have been roughly 1868.
By 1890 Charles and Kate had five children, three boys and two girls, who had moved with them to Ohio sometime shortly after the libel lawsuit filed against him by his father-in-law in 1887. Apparently Charles had expressed doubts about the paternity of at least one if not all of his brood based on knowledge he had acquired concerning the unfortunate demise of a sister-in-law which may have preceded his acquaintance with the family and by about three years the birth of his oldest daughter. He was convinced that his wife had been "used" and that was the verb the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin required seven pages to parse. The case still stands and is still in use.
Thank you for telling us more about this sketch. I grew up in Culpeper and the war washed back and forth across it many time. I was telling some fifth graders about the Battle of Brandy Station once, and they were so engrossed, a young man asked, “Did you see any dead bodies, Mrs. Crockett?!” :-) The book * Seasons of War: The Ordeal of the Confederate Community, 1861-1865* c1995 by Daniel E. Sutherland, covers the war as it affected Culpeper. Halfway between Washington and Richmond, Culpeper was always in the way.
And regarding the spelling “Culpepper” our school district once had to send new school busses back to correct the spelling. :-D
Sutherland's book is a great source on the war in Virginia. If we could identify the soldier's corps badge, we could probably locate the area where the sketch was done.
There is a sense in which I prefer the many sketch artist renderings to the photographs and paintings. One of my favorites, reflecting my interest in Grant, is a drawing of him whittling in the Wilderness. My copy was given to me by Emory Thomas, 30+ years ago. [I tried to post a copy here, but the app doesn't let me. 😒)
Hi Jim. I think I know the one you are referring to. It shows Grant sitting whittling away while a group of officers converse in the distance. Nice to have a copy gifted from Emory Thomas.
That is the one. Emory is indeed a great guy.
This young soldier looks young and innocent. Oh, how I wish humans would learn how to coexist without needing to kill each other. Having raised three sons and knowing their kind and loving hearts, I can’t imagine them as soldiers killing other human beings.
Well said.