KIA Virginia Officer & Family

Group of seven tintypes and one carte de visite (CDV) related to Major Joshua Stover of the 10th Virginia Infantry, a Confederate officer who was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville. All but one tintype is housed in a paper sleeve, a common practice during the Civil War era.

The highlight of the lot is a tintype that shows a bearded Stover in his double-breasted CSA officer’s coat, which appears to be made of a lighter material than the dark kepi he holds near his lap. The paper mat features a patriotic eagle design. A simple but compelling portrait, the artist added a touch of interest by subtly tinting the officer’s cheeks.

Maj. Stover, born and raised in Strasburg, first served in the Mexican War which made him an ideal choice to lead green citizen-soldiers at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was almost immediately commissioned a Captain of his hometown unit nicknamed the “Strasburg Grays,” who would soon become Company A of the 10th Virginia Infantry. He served with distinction at the first Battle of Bull Run and other smaller engagements in his home state, earning a promotion to Major in May of 1862. As Major, he helped lead his regiment at battles throughout the Shenandoah Valley, including Winchester, Fort Royal, and Cedar Mountain. He returned to Mansassas that same August, where he was wounded in action during the rollicking Confederate victory.

While records for the next several months are somewhat incomplete likely due to his convalescence, they do establish that Stover was present with his regiment at Chancellorsville in May of 1863. There, he would die in the fighting. Stover's remains were buried in an Ellwood cemetery close to where Stonewall Jackson’s arm was interred.

The other images in this grouping were obtained with the image of Stover, and are presumably members of his family or other loved ones.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Albumen, CDV, Carte-de-Visite, Carte de Visite, Tintypes, Cased Images]