[Civil War veteran John Wilson and Sarah Bowman Wilson]

Archive record

1 photograph : tintype ; plate 95 x 65 mm (carte de visite plate format). | 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 with his wife.

About this photograph

The photograph shows John Wilson, identified as a captain in Company C of the 8th Kentucky Infantry Regiment, a Union unit, together with his wife Sarah Bowman Wilson. According to the archive record, Wilson was known for being the first Union soldier to plant his regiment's battle flag on the summit of Lookout Mountain during the battle fought there on November 24, 1863.

The image was made twenty-two years after that engagement. It is a tintype in the carte de visite plate format, a combination that was common during and after the war. Soldiers on both sides regularly sat for cartes de visite or tintypes before departing, leaving an image with their families.

The archive record describes Wilson as photographed much later in life, indicating that the 1885 date represents a substantial interval since his military service. The tintype medium and carte de visite sizing reflect photographic practices that had become widespread by the time of the Civil War and continued in the decades afterward.

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

About the format

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