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August 1862. "Culpeper Court House, Virginia. Federal soldiers and wounded Negro." Wet-plate glass negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan. View full size.
The uniforms were made of wool. I wore a reproduction of this type of uniform when I was reenacting. Yes it was hot in the summer but their bodies were more accustomed to the heat than ours are. Many soldiers wore cotton shirts underneath but there are many instances of them wearing wool shirts as well, including at Gettysburg, which of course took place in July.
Those two recessed walls are done in Scottish bond (like so many others we've seen here) but the center wall is mainly done in runner bond - with a twist. Looks as though the width of that section was a bit too wide for the dimensions of a common brick and so they had to fill in a little bit with brick-pieces. There's damage at the bottom of that section, too, causing - what looks like - a collapse. Was it hit by a cannonball?
Hi - New commenter John in New Orleans here, even though I've enjoyed the incredible photos for a while...
Yep - I think it's high summer (leaves on the trees) in Virginia and those are wool clothes - and those guys are probably lucky to have them! I don't want to think about how long they might have had them on...
Just looking at this image makes my bones creak. You can almost feel the tired muscles and aches and pains of an exhausting life.
August in Virginia. Does anyone know what the soldier's uniform is made of? Looks like wool -- hope I'm wrong. The women must be on the verge of heatstroke.
Amazing photo.
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