[Civil War veteran John Wilson]

Archive record

1 photograph : tintype ; plate 86 x 64 mm (carte de visite plate format), mat 123 x 79 mm. | Photograph shows Captain John Wilson of Co. C, 8th Kentucky Infantry Regiment (Union), who was known for being the first Union soldier to plant his regiment's battle flag on the summit of Lookout Mountain during the battle on November 24, 1863, much later in life wearing a medal.

About this photograph

This tintype, in the smaller plate format used for cartes de visite, shows Captain John Wilson of Company C, 8th Kentucky Infantry Regiment (Union), photographed in 1885 wearing a medal. According to the record, Wilson was the first Union soldier to plant his regiment's battle flag on the summit of Lookout Mountain during the battle on November 24, 1863.

By the time of the Civil War, photography was widespread enough that soldiers on both sides commonly sat for cartes de visite or tintypes before leaving for service, intending to leave an image with family. The technology's exposure times made action photographs impossible, so the visual record consists almost entirely of portraits, camp scenes, fortifications, and the dead after battles had ended.

The medal Wilson wears reflects the postwar culture of Union veterans' organisations. The Grand Army of the Republic, founded in 1866, became a substantial political force and ran reunions and memorial observances for decades. Members wore distinctive uniforms and badges to encampments and parades, which accounts for the many late portraits showing elderly men in regalia rather than wartime dress.

Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.

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