Staff officers of the 43d Massachuettes volunteers

Putting faces to people in Civil War group scene isn't easy, but can be done and is really a worthwhile exercise. Case in point: I recently obtained large albumen photograph, left, of an outdoor view of several officers with an original mount marked, "Camp Rogers, Encampment of the 43rd Mass. Vols., Newbern, N.C., March 13, 1863." The photographer was G.H. Nickerson, 1st lieutenant in Co. E of the 43rd, and it was printed by Black of Boston and H.B. Nickerson, possibly a relative of the photographer, copyrighted it.

The crisp view shows seven officers, six of whom have swords, and an armed sentry. Several Sibley and wall tents are included as well as an unusual flagpole with foot pegs, perhaps used for signalling and observation purposes. A small flagpole with a solid color flag is also present.

I suspected that the senior officers, including a surgeon with his distinctive Model 1840 medical staff sword (center), most probably were in this image. To confirm this and hopefully identify these officers, I corresponded with Michael Winey of the U.S. Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

To my happy surprise, I received photocopies and, ultimately, photographs of all the officers of the 43rd staff. These had been perserved in the archives of the Massachusetts Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS). From these photos, I was able to confirm the identify of all the officers in the outdoor grouping.

The players named

They are, from left, Colonel Charles L. Holbrook (seated), Quartermaster Henry A. Turner, Lieutenant Colonel John C. Whiton (facing Col. Holbrook), Chaplain Jacob C. Manning (his chin is shaved in a post-war view), Surgeon Alonzo Carter Webber (who wears a unique frog with his branch-of-service sword), Adjutant James M. Whitney (seated on the dirt pile), and Major Everett Lane (leaning on his sword).

Additionally, the staff of the U.S.A.M.H.I. located an outstanding second outdoor view of the 43d. It shows an overall view of the encampment at Newbern, with each of the ten companies at attention, and is dated March 12, 1863. The same photographer and printer credits are printed on this CDV In this view, the location of the first photograph of the staff officers can most probably be assigned to the center of the encampment near the main flagpole with foot pegs.

The 43d, a regiment raised for nine months' service, was mustered in on October 25, 1862, based around Co. A, the "Boston Light Infantry," also known as the Tigers, a unit that dates back to 1798. In November the "Tiger Regiment," as it was known, was sent to Beaufort and then Newbern, North Carolina.

It participated in the Goldsboro expedition, fighting at Kinston on December 14th and Whitehall on the 16th. It suffered losses at the Battle of Goldsboro on the 17th. In April it marched to relieve the siege of Little Washington, fighting Major General D.H. Hill's regiments in the Battle of Blount's Creek on the 9th.

In May and June, the time these images were made, the 43d was in camp at Newbern, performing guard and fatigue duties. The regiment's term of service nearing completion, it was sent to Fort Monroe on June 24, 1863, and then to Fort McHenry in Baltimore. Here 203 men under Colonel Whiton volunteered to serve with the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg crisis. After Lee retreated across the Potomac, this volunteer detachment was mustered out on July 18th.

Of interest, Whiton was commissioned on March 8, 1864, to command the 58th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, seeing action at the Battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Ana, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, the Crater and Fort Mahone. Whiton himself was wounded at Cold Harbor.

Messers. Winey and Hackenburg of the USAMHI have been most accomodating with any and all of my research queries. I strongly urge follow collectors to forward to them copies (negatives) of Civil War soldiers and views. It is their goal to have a photographic record of all who served in the war, which can then be available for all collectors and historical researchers.

The author seeks a period images of Surgeon Thomas Sim, medical director of the II Corps, Army of the Potomac, 1862-63.

Paul R. Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Copyright Military Images Sep/Oct 2000
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