The Library of Congress Collection — September 2021

Originally published September 2021 · p. 24

Henry Augustus Moore. He contracted a malignant fever during the first Vicksburg Campaign and died August 14, 1862. He and seven other members of his company are buried in a single grave near their homes in Water Valley, Miss. The monument reads “Sacred to the dead of Company “F” 15th Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers.” Young Henry is photographed here wearing a Model 1832 artillery belt with interlocking US buckle holding and Ames Model 1832 short artillery sword. His shell jacket with dark trim is quite distinctive and unique. Of the 20 plus images by this unknown Mississippi photographer, no props are seen in any two images other than his iconic “JEFF DAVIS AND THE SOUTH!” sign. Though infantryman did not carry short swords, many early war Confederate carried big knives, so this antebellum sword and accompanying belt could’ve been used early war.

Medium: sixth-plate ambrotype, hand-colored; 9.4 x 8.2 cm (case) Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-34952 Published in: Wynne, Ben. A Hard Trip: A History of the 15th Mississippi Infantry, CSA. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2003, p. xvi. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs. (Library of Congress).