Check out the hat on the guy in the back!!!!

[Rmhisteach]

I saw this picture and just had to post it.

RM

http://cgi.ebay.com/8x10-Civil-War-Photo-Exchanged-Prisoners-19th-Iowa_W0QQitemZ160267238006QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item 160267238006&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A10&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1318#ebayphotohosting

[Andrew Kasmar]

Hi,

Now that is a hat!!!!!!!!!!:eek: All around a cool picture, but that hat is most certainly the most interesting.

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Details from that image and an alternate view of the Iowa prisoners. (Weird re-touching job on the original prints...)

[tenfed1861]

Marc,those touch ups have always freaked me out a little.Seriously,they look like weird mutant pictures.
But that is an impressive hat.

[DougCooper]

Very cool photo!

Camp Ford in Tyler Texas is a great preservation work in progress. It has the distinction of being the POW camp with the lowest death rate in the south and perhaps anywhere. Several studies have been done on exactly why this was but the reason that stands out is the leadership and organization of the prisoners themselves. Originally for officers, a large number of enlisted men came over from the Red River Campaign captures at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. Arriving in a very organized camp...unlike places like Camp Sumter at Andersonville, the men were kept under discipline and took better care of themselves. The climate and food were generally better as well.

Here is a link to the Camp: http://www.censusdiggins.com/prison_camp_ford.html

[lambrew]

That will keep the sun off ya! Nice find, thanks for sharing.

Respectfully....
Sean Collicott

[Greg Barnett]

The fellow in the right most seats has a hat on that I have not seen in our time period before. It looks much like a baseball cap. I would think these guys are eager to wear what ever they could get. Do you think the fellow with the large brimmed hat has an attitude to match his hat?
Cheers

[yeoman]

Sir, the matter of consideration to this post would be the (shirtless?) standing fellow behind middle sitting gent and the facial hair or lack of same on these tattered barefooted men. Taking into account youth, there must have been a razor in the makeup of this mess. Also, if you examine the resemblances of back ground walls in both images on this thread, they look to be 1 by 8,10 and 12 stock IMO. Are the location and time of these photos known? In any case,thanks for bringing out these images.-----(Gentleman, thanks for the heads up and link to Camp Ford)

[tater_cuffie]

Sweet Image!

[Joe Walker]

YOEMAN-

The layout and building arrangement at Camp Ford has been pretty well documented. Please check out their website mentioned in an earlier post. The land it is on is NOT flat. If you were imprisoned there for any length of time, one leg would be shorter than the other! :D Most photos are from the end of the War when the men were being released.

I have done living history there several times over the last 20 years and some artifacts have been found. There are diaries from some of the prisoners that have been published and a book called "Tyler Texas" USA that would prove interesting. There was another large prison camp north of Houston at Hempstead. Prisoners would be marched back and forth from there to Ford, to Shreveport, back to Ford, etc. in anticipation of a Yankee invastion from unknown parts of the coast. These "Prison Camps" started out as mustering points for Texas troops at the War's beginning.

Joe Walker
Waco Guards.

[lukegilly13]

The fellow in the right most seats has a hat on that I have not seen in our time period before. It looks much like a baseball cap. Cheers

Nice spot Greg!!! When I first looked at the pic...I thought it kinda looked like Fidel Castro!

[Ryan Halsey]

Yeah. You're right Luke. Nice pic.

[Greg Barnett]

Sir, the matter of consideration to this post would be the (shirtless?) standing fellow behind middle sitting gent and the facial hair or lack of same on these tattered barefooted men. Taking into account youth, there must have been a razor in the makeup of this mess. Also, if you examine the resemblances of back ground walls in both images on this thread, they look to be 1 by 8,10 and 12 stock IMO. Are the location and time of these photos known? In any case,thanks for bringing out these images.-----(Gentleman, thanks for the heads up and link to Camp Ford)

This image is great for many reasons already listed. A few things in the photo I have not seen before in period photos. As the quote above states, the shirtless fellow. I have not seen this before. This would have to be a truly impromptu photo.

Regards,

[DougCooper]

This image is great for many reasons already listed. A few things in the photo I have not seen before in period photos. As the quote above states, the shirtless fellow. I have not seen this before. This would have to be a truly impromptu photo.

Regards,

There are a number of post captivity prisoner photos where the subjects obviously wanted to preserve their "look" upon release as reminder of their privations. Here is another from Camp Ford. http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ford/index.html Many are partially or totally shirtless, wide brimmed hats, slouches turned up or worn out and nearly brimless, etc.

I took an archeology class at Rice in Houston back in college...wish to heck I had thought to promote the class "dig" to be Camp Ford!