Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

[claynpendleton]

Here is an interesting photograph of 19th Iowa soldiers taken in New Orleans after their release from Camp Ford prison in Texas. Any thoughts on the guy in the "10 gallon hat?" Hope the link works this time...

http://www.old-picture.com/civil-war/Noncommissioned-Photographed-Infantry-exchanged.htm

-Clay Pendleton

[claynpendleton]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

Forgot to site the source of the image in the edited post...
original at the Library of Congress, can also be found in:
Civil War Album: Complete Photographic History of the Civil War; William C. Davis and Bell L. Wiley, eds.; (New York: Tess Press/ National Historic Society, 2000) p. 606.

-Clay Pendleton

[roundshot]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

How do you spell M-e-x-i-c-a-n S-o-m-b-r-e-r-o?

[Cfarrell]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

To tell you the truth. I'm more interested in the feller sitting in the chair on the right. That hat looks like a modern ball cap.

Regards,

[claynpendleton]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

[QUOTE][To tell you the truth. I'm more interested in the feller sitting in the chair on the right. That hat looks like a modern ball cap./QUOTE]

It almost looks like a ca. 1950s/60s field cap, or train engineers' hat...could it be some sort of civilian workmans' hat??
-Clay

[firstexas]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

Very interesting image. The man standing two persons to the right of the "sombrero" looks almost like he has a box on his head and appears to be shirtless. Thanks for the post.

[BrettKIllinois]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

another photo of the same unit can be found here:

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ford/images/soldiers.html

cool site on the camp:

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ford/prison.html

[fedcampaigner]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

It looks to me as if the fellar' sitting on the left is wearing his hat backwards. Anyone elses' thoughts?

[pistolpete1863]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

what kind of hat does the 6th man from the left have? To hard to make out for me any one else know?

[DBAR1918]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

There are four known images struck at the same place and at the same time. One is of the enlisted men, another of the non-commissioned officers, a group of the officers, and at least two individual photographs of Captain May with his violin case are known. The latter was a newspaperman before the war who hand-wrote the Camp Ford prisoner newspaper and smuggled out three issues under his epaulettes when he was exchanged. Many years later, these unique illustrated four-page sheets were preserved in the collection of famed clown Emett Kelly and were published many years ago.

The headgear of many of these former POWs looks strange- because it was hand-made by the prisoners themselves from scraps of uniforms, etc. Because of early planning of the water system when the camp began as an officer's prison, Camp Ford just outside Tyler, Texas, had the lowest mortality rate of any prisoner facility, North or South. Of over 6,000 Union Soldiers and sailors who passed through the gates, less than 300 perished and were exhumed and moved to a cemetary near Shreveport after the war. A fascinating facility.

Dave Stieghan

[Brent Brumagin]

Re: Interesting hats, 19th Iowa prisoners at New Orleans

Thank you for the Post.

Brent Brumagin