Description:

Jackson Thomas 1824 - 1863 Confederate general Stonewall Jackson Michael Miley print of "Winchester" photograph



3.75" x 5.5" black and white bust portrait photograph of Confederate general originally taken by Nathaniel Rouzahn in 1862 in Winchester, VA and mounted on embossed M. Miley & Son (Lexington, VA) studio stock card measuring 5.875" x 8.875". General is shown in uniform with full beard engaging viewer with piercing gaze. With light expected wear to bottom third of photograph, possibly sustained from oval-shaped frame.

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863) was a Virginia-born West Point graduate whose first military service was in the Mexican War (1846-47). At the start of the Civil War, Jackson resigned from his teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA to command the Virginia militia. Jackson garnered his famous soubriquet "Stonewall" during the First Battle of Manassas, where he inspired Confederate resistance against Union troop advances. Jackson continued to perform brilliantly in military campaigns throughout 1862. The night of the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863, Jackson was hit by friendly fire while meeting with a staff member. Gravely wounded, "Old Blue Light" died just a little over a week later of complications.

This photograph, called "the Winchester photograph", was originally taken by Nathaniel Routzahn (1822-1908) in his Winchester, VA studio in November 1862, only six months prior to the Confederate general's death in May 1863. The photograph reveals two interesting things that illustrate the vulnerability and humanity of the stalwart general. The first is the fourth button on the left column of the officer's tunic, which he had crookedly reattached in the studio when he discovered he had a missing button. A studio observer quipped that, while Jackson could hunt down enemy forces, he was unable to sew on a button in a straight line. The second is the general's left arm, here pictured sound and encased in gray wool. Only six months later, the dismembered limb would be laying in an amputation pile.

Michael Miley (1841-1918), the owner of the photographic studio inscribed on the embossed card, served under Stonewall Jackson during the Civil War. After the war, Miley trained under several photographers before opening a jointly owned studio in 1866. After 1870, he operated a thriving portrait business, capturing the likenesses of many Southern celebrities including former president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee. We can date this photographic reprint based on the presence of "Sons" in the M. Miley inscription. Thirty years after Appomattox, there was still a brisk demand for Confederate relics, a need that Michael Miley fulfilled.

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