Sixth plate half-length studio portrait ambrotype. [Mississippi], circa 1861. Full leatherette case. 

Portrait of Confederate Allen A. Pringle, Company E, 13th Mississippi Infantry. Formed in the spring of 1861 in Corinth, the Colonel of the regiment, staunch secessionist Congressman William Barksdale, became legendary for his Civil War exploits, although he may be best known for his fighting death while leading a horseback charge near Gettysburg's Peach Orchard. 

The long-haired and bearded Pringle likely posed for this photograph as a new soldier in 1861. Decked out in his grey issue uniform, he holds his musket at his side; both a haversack and tin drum canteen (seldom seen in Confederate photographs) are visible on either side of his waist. He wears a classic brass "forked tongue" frame buckle on his belt and a most wonderful broad-brimmed "tricorn"-style hat taken straight from early Mississippi military regulations. These interesting and visually compelling details make for an outstanding portrait of a southern soldier. 

Pringle, born in Florida, eventually put roots down in Alamutcha, Mississippi. He and his wife, Maryann, had eight children, five of which survived to adulthood. When the Civil War began he enlisted in the Alamutcha Guards, a local unit who became Company E of the 13th Mississippi. Pringle improbably survived the regiment's lengthy service in the eastern theater, from Bull Run to Appomattox and nearly every major battle in between. After the close of hostilities, he quietly lived out the rest of his life in the deep south, passing away in Thornville, Alabama, in 1881. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards]

The image has a crack running from the upper right hand corner diagonally to the lower left corner.