American Historical Ephemera & Photography

3 1/2 x 2 3/16 in. CDV on cardstock mount (good tonality, light soiling/spotting to image and mount; light bumping to corners of mount). Photographer's imprint on verso listing both the Brownsville, TX and Matamoros, Mexico locations. Penciled identification on verso reads, "Randol[?]. Michealowski. Dillenback. Miltemore."

Studio portrait of a group of 4 officers wearing horse hair plumed shakos featuring artillery insignia and what appear to be 1st regiment devices, and holding swords. They pose, sitting or leaning, on a brass 12-pound cannon with ramrod in view.

Given the tentative identifications penciled on verso, the third man from the left could be Alanson Merwin Randol (1837-1887), a career US Army artillery officer who ultimately attained the rank of brevet brigadier general. During the Civil War, he served with the 1st US Artillery until December of 1864 when he was commissioned a colonel of the 2nd New York Cavalry Regiment. After the war, Randol returned to artillery, commanding companies of his old regiment for the remainder of his career. The subject identified as "Miltemore" probably is one Alonzo Edward Miltemore who also was in the 1st US Artillery, and "Dillenback" probably is one John Wesley Dillenback who also served with that unit.