American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

Sixth plate tintype. (Some surface wear near perimeter, where plate meets mat.) Housed in a full pressed paper case (reinforced at hinge). A view of who appear to be two farriers wearing aprons, with a gentleman in a suit standing in the background. 

During the Civil War, hundreds of blacksmiths in the military were hired to provide farrier services.  In the field, blacksmiths were first sought when a wheel broke on a supply wagon or when a limber chest and needed replacing. If engine components needed replacing on supply trains, or hardware was needed for the infantry or artillery, it was the blacksmith's duty to fabricate new ones. With both armies relying heavily on pack animals such as mules and horses for either mounted operations or for transporting supplies, blacksmiths, although generally not associated with equine practices, were those called to forge thousands of shoes necessary for the animals.