The Only Surviving Picture of Sgt. Marshall H. Shannon
This Picture of Sgt. Marshal H. Shannon was taken while the regiment was encamped
at Fairfax Court House Virginia, soon after reaching the front around October 12,
1862. The date and location was determined because First Lieut. John C. Groswold
of Company F also had his picture taken with the same back drop. He sent his picture
home with a letter dated October 12, 1862. So Marshall's picture had to have been
taken around the same time and at the same location.
During the Civil War people carried pictures of their loved ones in a small, decrative
case called a Union Case. The case was made through the "union" of shellac and sawdust
to create a form of thermoplastic. This mixture was heated and pressed into intricately
designed molds to create both halves of the Union Case. Brown or black dyes were
added into mixture to color the case.
The picture you see here is actually one half of a Union Case. I have no idea
what happened to the other half, but you can see the marks where the hinges once
were on the side that survived. If you look carefully, you can see that the
buttons on his coat are yellow, the stripes in the flag are a little red and the
field of blue in the flag is an extremely dark blue.
Source: The Lincourt Historical Collection, Mark
Dunkleman
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