CDV - Soldier with Corps Badge

CDV of Soldier with Corps Badge. Click picture for details.

Civil War CDV (photograph) of a young Union soldier. It is the typical size of 2 ½” x 4”. It is a full-standing view and he is wearing a blue Artillery Frock coat, vest, and kepi. The coat has a short collar and red stitching around the cuffs (red for artillery). It is open showing his blue vest with brass buttons and a Corps badge is pinned on it. It is a white star, signifying the 2nd Division of either the 12th Corps or 20th Corps….the 20th being the 11th and 12th which were combined on April 26, 1864. The backmark on the CDV is “From Charles Cohill’s / “Root Gallery,” / S.E. Cor. Fifth & Chestnut sts., / Philadelphia.”. Possibly this was a Pennsylvania soldier, but many men from the North eastern states passed through Philadelphia during the War. 

This image was colorized by the photographer, which had to be meticulously done by hand, at an additional cost. He must have been a true artist, because the workmanship is one of the best I’ve seen. The soldier is looking directly into the camera. He has a kind of “cocky” look with his kepi tilted to one side. Wartime photographs of soldiers with Corps badges are very rare.