Vignetted albumen CDV bust portrait of Prvt. Theodore Scheffer, Co. E, 11th Virginia Cavalry. Period printed obituary affixed to verso. 

Carte-de-visite (CDV) bust view of Private Theodore Sheffer wearing a dark vest, light shirt, and bowtie. Verso features a printed obituary that reads: “Theodore Scheffer, Private in Co. E, 11th VA Cav[alry]...was drowned in attempting to cross the river at Moore's ford, near Mt. Jackson, in the fight with the enemy on the 7th inst. He was in his 22d year, having entered the service of his country before he was eighteen. He had been wounded several months ago, and not been doing regular duty for some time. On the 6th inst. the prisoners captured at Waynesboro' were being marched down the Valley under a heavy guard, and camped at the river near Mt. Jackson. Here they were met by a small force under Capt. Grandstaff, and among those who had joined him was the unfortunate subject of this notice. In his daring but unsuccessful attempt to rescue our men, young Scheffer acted a gallant part. He had many warm friends and his untimely fate has carried sadness to many hearts in the community in which he was raised." 

Theodore Scheffer was born in Woodstock, Virginia, on 21 October 1843. He enlisted as a private in Hess’ Company of the 7th Virginia Cavalry on 4 May 1862 and, on 21 June 1862, he was transferred into Company E, 17th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. Scheffer was transferred yet again to Company E, 11th Virginia Cavalry on 5 February 1863.

While with the 11th, Scheffer was wounded in the left wrist on 13 September 1863. He is listed on the Company rolls for April 1864 as “present but unable to bear arms due to wound.” He drowned during the skirmish mentioned above at Moore’s Ford near Mt. Jackson on 3 March 1865. He is buried in Emanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Woodstock, Virginia.

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