Friends,
I recently added to my collection a cdv of three officers, one of whom I believe is Jacob McClure, captain of Company D 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters. The most striking detail is a 3/4 view of his tall leather leggings which clearly show, without a doubt, the number of buckles/straps used, their arrangement at the opening of the leggings, and the shape and type of buckles used. They have six buckles/straps up the side and one underfoot, the straps are sewn to the inside of the legging instead of on the outside as seen in the majority of reproductions, and the buckles are most likely a tall rectangular center-bar in raw steel or brass with wire tongues.
Also of interest is the fact that this cdv was made using a glass-plate negative, the only evidence of which being the way the coats button and the scratching of the emulsion that transferred to the paper print. Any "right-read" oriented photograph of the period will show buttons on the viewer's left and buttonholes on the right however the wet plate photography process will reverse the image in ambrotypes and tintypes. Cartes de visite were made right-read during the sitting unless a glass plate negative was used as seen here.
If the attribution is correct then the other two officers may be (from left) 2nd Lt. Daniel Cummings and 1st Lt. Silas Barker who held those ranks while McClure was captain. The back mark is a mid to late war Brady/NY/Washington imprint different from those found on early war USSS prints made by Brady but it's likely that the original negative was stored at his studio and used to make this cdv later.
I am happy to share this with members of the forum and as always I encourage comments, discussion, and questions. ***EDIT: My previous watermarked image links did not work so hopefully these do. If you would like to share or publish the images please send me a PM and ask first as it is from my personal collection. Thank you!***
Overview.
Detail of leggings.
Cropped detail oriented to "right read" for comparison to a signed cdv of Capt. McClure
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Brian WhiteWambaugh, White, & Companyhttp://www.wwandcompany.com----------------------------------
Randolph Mess, U.S. Sharpshooters