Sixth plate half-length studio portrait ambrotypes. N.p., 1860s. Half leatherette cases. Both include inscriptions in pencil on the image verso. 

Inscription to verso of photograph with Childress in uniform reads: "Huntsville / March 7th 1862 / Thos Childress / Weight 183." Inscription to verso of photograph with Childress in civilian clothes reads: "Columbus, / Miss / Aug. 15, 1862 / Thos H. Childress / tolerable I thank you / how is it with you / Columbus / Miss." 

A wonderful pair of portraits depicting Confederate artilleryman Thomas H. Childress, Lynch's Company, Tennessee Light Artillery. The two photographs show Childress in and out of uniform. In his Confederate uniform, he wears a dark jacket, sporting a brass two-piece interlocking waist buckle that in all likelihood bears the initials "CS" under the photographer's gold gilt. He is also armed with an artillery saber. 

Lynch's Company served primarily as heavy artillery in the defense of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and was transferred east after the city's capitulation in July 1863. Most of the regiment was later captured at Marion, Virginia, during Stoneman's Raid in December 1864. While Childress survived the War, not much is known about his return to civilian life. He seems to have migrated to Nashville after his service, where he married his wife, Sarah, and worked as a laborer.

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