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Been lurking here on the AC for a while. I very much enjoy the posts, information, and y'all's commitment to authenticity. I have been reenacting for 10 years, and aspire to campaigner status. :)
Anyhow, I present to you a photo that has been barely ever seen by the public. This is one of two identical sixth-plate tintypes of the same photo. They are both in my wife and her family's posession.
Background: Elisha Franklin "Frank" Rainey was my wife's great-great-great-grandfather, and General Forrest's first cousin (Rainey's mother was Forrest's Aunt- Malinda Forrest). His parents owned and lived in the house at Caney Spring, Chapel Hill, TN, which is now owned by the SCV, and known as "The Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Home".
Frank Rainey's record: He enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 17th TN Inf. on May 18th, 1861, in Marshall County. The unit participated in an engagement on Oct. 21, 1861 at Rock Castle, KY (Camp Wildcat), where they suffered 45 casualties, and at Fishing Creek near Mill Springs, KY on January 20th, 1862 where they lost 46 men, and their Brig. Gen. Zollicoffer was killed.
Rainey reenlisted as a Second Lieutenant on Sep. 30th in Capt. T.C.H. Miller's Co. C, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, at Caney Spring.
Note: Rainey was 28 years old at this time. He married 19-year-old Sarah Emily Blackwell on Oct. 5th, 1862, just days after his reenlistment. This is pure speculation, but our guess is that this photo was taken before this time as a gift to his soon-to-be wife. The bouquet that he is holding in the photo seems to suggest something of the sort.
From "Tennesseans in the Civil War, Vol. 1": "Captain Miller, of Co. "C", stated his company was raised in October, 1862 as part of a battalion which Major Alex Wynne had been authorized to organize; it reported to General Forrest at Murfreesboro, but was not attached to any command. After it became apparent that Wynne was not going to get his battalion it served temporarilywith Douglass' Battalion. When Forrest made his raid into West Tennessee in December, 1862, he left the company with General Joseph Wheeler, and it remained under his command until February 1863, when it was ordered to report to Forrest at Columbia, where this regiment was organized. His (Capt. Miller's) report was dated near Atlanta, June 30th, 1864 and concluded with these remarks: "This Company has had no rest, but has been constantly on the front in Middle Tennessee, around Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, in East Tennessee, and in front of General Johnston's army near Dalton (GA), and since they left there."
There's more details, but to summarize, the 11th Tennessee served under Forrest for the rest of the war, and was surrendered with him at Gainesville.
The photo: This copy is in it's original case- my MIL has the other which is not cased. Rainey is holding what appears to be a conversion musket, has two pistols tucked into his belt, and is holding a bouquet of flowers. [IMG]
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Anyhow, I present to you a photo that has been barely ever seen by the public. This is one of two identical sixth-plate tintypes of the same photo. They are both in my wife and her family's posession.
Background: Elisha Franklin "Frank" Rainey was my wife's great-great-great-grandfather, and General Forrest's first cousin (Rainey's mother was Forrest's Aunt- Malinda Forrest). His parents owned and lived in the house at Caney Spring, Chapel Hill, TN, which is now owned by the SCV, and known as "The Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Home".
Frank Rainey's record: He enlisted as a private in Co. F of the 17th TN Inf. on May 18th, 1861, in Marshall County. The unit participated in an engagement on Oct. 21, 1861 at Rock Castle, KY (Camp Wildcat), where they suffered 45 casualties, and at Fishing Creek near Mill Springs, KY on January 20th, 1862 where they lost 46 men, and their Brig. Gen. Zollicoffer was killed.
Rainey reenlisted as a Second Lieutenant on Sep. 30th in Capt. T.C.H. Miller's Co. C, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, at Caney Spring.
Note: Rainey was 28 years old at this time. He married 19-year-old Sarah Emily Blackwell on Oct. 5th, 1862, just days after his reenlistment. This is pure speculation, but our guess is that this photo was taken before this time as a gift to his soon-to-be wife. The bouquet that he is holding in the photo seems to suggest something of the sort.
From "Tennesseans in the Civil War, Vol. 1": "Captain Miller, of Co. "C", stated his company was raised in October, 1862 as part of a battalion which Major Alex Wynne had been authorized to organize; it reported to General Forrest at Murfreesboro, but was not attached to any command. After it became apparent that Wynne was not going to get his battalion it served temporarilywith Douglass' Battalion. When Forrest made his raid into West Tennessee in December, 1862, he left the company with General Joseph Wheeler, and it remained under his command until February 1863, when it was ordered to report to Forrest at Columbia, where this regiment was organized. His (Capt. Miller's) report was dated near Atlanta, June 30th, 1864 and concluded with these remarks: "This Company has had no rest, but has been constantly on the front in Middle Tennessee, around Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, in East Tennessee, and in front of General Johnston's army near Dalton (GA), and since they left there."
There's more details, but to summarize, the 11th Tennessee served under Forrest for the rest of the war, and was surrendered with him at Gainesville.
The photo: This copy is in it's original case- my MIL has the other which is not cased. Rainey is holding what appears to be a conversion musket, has two pistols tucked into his belt, and is holding a bouquet of flowers. [IMG]
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