Ink drawing by Jackson More. N.p., [1864?].

WITH Autograph note signed by Captain Henry Simmons, Co. A, 55th USCT. 1 page. 8 1/2 x 4 3/8 in. Note reads in full: "Drawn by Jackson More a one-eyed colored boy from Yalla-Busha [sic] County Miss who never had a pencil in his hand and did not know a letter until the first of March. I found him in rags and dirt- discovered his talent and took him to my own tent where he has been since the time above mentioned."

Henry Simmons of Kossuth, Iowa, enlisted early in the war on 5 May 1861 as a private and was mustered into Company I of the 2nd Iowa Infantry later that month. The regiment served in the Western Theater with distinguished service at the Battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth.

On 21 May 1863, he was promoted to Captain of Company A of the newly formed 55th United States Colored Troops (USCT), originally organized as the 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment (African Descent). They served on garrison duty at Corinth and Memphis, Tennessee, fighting at the Battle of Brices Cross Roads. They were ordered to Louisiana in early 1865, where they saw out the end of the war.

The drawing is of exceptional skill and depicts an intriguing scene of officers balancing a chair upon a table to use as a rifle support. Not much is known of Jackson More. He may be the same 12-year-old boy listed in the 1870 Federal Census in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, living with his parents Moses and Hannah.

A great item with a great story.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [USCT, United States Colored Troops, Glory, 54th Massachusetts, Buffalo Soldiers, Black Soldiers] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]