Several months ago, I happened upon several images of 48th PA soldiers, including this tintype of an unidentified sergeant in Company G, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. The image was taken in either late May or early June 1862 when the soldiers of Company G sat to have their images taken in a New Bern, NC, photographer's studio. The members of the company then presented their tintype photographs as a gift and measure of respect to Captain Philip Nagle who had resigned due to poor health.
I wrote at length about this in a post in May of this year.
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| Unidentified Sergeant, Company G, 48th PA |
The soldier in this image is clearly a sergeant--and having examined the roster of Company G, it would appear that in May/June 1862, there may have been as many as six sergeants within the ranks of the company. Those six were: Henry Clay Jackson, Richard M. Jones, Robert Smith, Theodore Patterson, Reuben Reeser, and George Farne.
Of these six, however, I think we can immediately eliminate Jackson, Jones, Patterson, and perhaps Farne, as I have identified images of these soldiers, which are seen below. . .
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| Henry C. Jackson (Courtesy of Ronn Palm and the Museum of Civil War Images) |
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| George Farne (From Gould, The Story of the Forty Eighth) |
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| Richard M. Jones (From Bosbyshell, The Forty Eighth in the War) |
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| Theodore Patterson (Unknown) |
Eliminating these four from contention, then--and I am not totally convinced Farne should be eliminated since I see a little resemblance--leaves us with only two other possibilities: Robert Smith and Reuben Reeser.
Here are the physical descriptions of these two men:
Reuben Reeser: Age at enlistment: 43; 5'11" tall; Light Complexion; Blue Eyes; Dark Hair.
Robert Smith: Age at enlistment: 23; 5'7" tall; Florid Complexion; Blue Eyes; Dark Hair.
From the physical description of Reeser and Smith, it would seem that the man in the photograph can be identified as Robert Smith, since he appears closer in age to 23 than to 43.
But what do you think? Is this man Sergeant Robert Smith, Company G, 48th PA?
Or could it be George Farne. . .again, to me at least, there does appear to be a resemblance.
