Fascinating identified Confederate soldier portrait once found in the Confederate postal service’s  dead letter file in Richmond, Virginia. The sitter is a Louisiana infantryman clad in the classic light gray uniform associated with that state, also armed with a sword and rifle. Identified by an original period paper tag affixed to the image case itself, his name was Pvt. Littleton M. Chambliss of Co. A, “North Louisiana Cadets,” 12th Louisiana Infantry. Chambliss was killed in action at the battle of Peachtree Creek in July of 1864, a brutal day that shattered his regiment. 

Staring directly into the lens, the earnest Chambliss wears outstanding headgear, with a flipped-up brim and what is likely a star badge pinned to the side. He also wears a rectangular brass belt plate. While the artist applied gold gilt over its face, it may be a rare Louisiana "pelican feeding her young" design. 

For reasons yet unknown this image was mailed back to Chambliss’s home in De Soto. It could not be delivered and thus remained in the Confederate "dead letter" file in Richmond with thousands of other lost pieces of mail. Most of this misdirected correspondence was ultimately destroyed when the Union Army entered the Rebel capitol in 1865, making this cased image a true survivor. Examples of Confederate “dead letter” photographs are virtually nonexistent when compared to examples from the Union side of the Civil War. 

We note that this image has captivated collectors and historians for generations. A sketch of this very image appears in the Battles and Leaders of the Civil War series, published in 1885 (pg. 393). It would be a fine addition to the best of southern photography collections.

[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]

[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]