American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Seated portrait of Theodore Creamer as a steely-gazed cavalry private, casually posed in full uniform including a 13-button shell jacket, and M1851 sword belt plate. He rests his fully flocked Hardee hat on his crossed leg and displays his M1851 Colt Navy revolver by tucking it into the front of his belt at the barrel. (Some scratching with minor loss where mat meets plate, very minor spotting; unsealed.) Housed in a Union case (large crack running through front cover, nicking, soiling, non-functioning closure with loss). Pencil inscription to case behind image identifies the subject as "Theodore Creamer." 

Theodore Y. Creamer from Wapello County, Iowa enlisted as a private in Company "I" of the 1st Iowa Cavalry Regiment on 18 July 1861. He was wounded in a skirmish at Chalk Bluffs, Arkansas on 2 May 1863 and was shortly thereafter promoted to corporal in October of that year. After re-enlisting in January of 1864, Corporal Creamer suffered yet another wound at the Skirmish at Terre Noire Creek just a few months later on 2 April. He never recovered, and apparently died of his wounds in Bentonville, Arkansas on 22 July. 

Image published in the Winter 2023 issue of Military Images.