Tintype soldier photo

W

Whoisthisguy?

New member
Can anyone help me with this photo? Where is this uniform from? What time period? What rank could he be? It is obviously a posed shot with an interesting background, does anyone have information on that? Anything you would know would help me greatly! It is a tintype given to me by my aunt who says it is my great grandfather but that doesn't make sense with other information I have on him. Thanks!
 
US Infantry private , between 1883 and 1902. Photo is not clear enough to say more about him. I have a feeling he maybe in a National Guard unit, due to the bright metal on his rifle and it is an older model rifle (M'1873). BTW photo is reversed.
 
The picture is reversed. Might be earlier than 1883 as it looks to me he holding a m1866 Allin conversion trapdoor in .50-70, or even a muzzle loading m1863. (The M1873 in .45-70 had a Blued receiver). Or do you see a spike helmet or smock that dates it to 1883?
 
The US Army switched to white as the infantry color in 1883. Rifle is a polished Model of 18'73, look at sight and breach hinge locations.
 
By clicking on the pic you get it up right.
About the location, a would say near a swamp.... :D
 
It is not that the photo is side ways. The original photo is printed in reverse (bayonet on wrong side, lock plate on wrong side). If the photo is an actual tintype (image is produced directly on a sheet of metal) this would be the case, as there was no actual negative. Tintype photography was truly out of date by the 1880's, twenty years before they even had a lens that corrected this reversal issue. If it is not a tintype and printed on paper the photographer didn't flip the negative when he made the print.
 
It is possible that the rifle is a Model of 1868, as there were still some of these in service with National Guard units late into the 1880's. Some of these pieces were nickel plated.
 
aicusv said:
It is not that the photo is side ways. The original photo is printed in reverse (bayonet on wrong side, lock plate on wrong side).....
Click to expand...
I understood after I posted all ready... :oops:
 
Thank you everyone. This is very helpful. My picture is a true tintype, so the reversed image makes sense. I joined this forum because I know nothing about this stuff so I appreciate all the info I can get.

"ebeeby", you asked about the helmet, yes it has the spike on the top. I was unaware that the US troops had them on helmets, that is why I was confused because there was no way he could have served overseas.

Sorry for the sideways image. I don't know how to fix that in the post. ;-)
 
Were did he live? During this period the regular army was rather small, but enrollment in the Guard was high. It was a big social thing.
 
He was born in 1864 in the Netherlands. He lived in Wisconsin at least through 1880, although I know he lived a short time in Chicago in the late 1880s. And then back to Wisconsin.
 
Google "US Army spiked helmets" and click images.
There are hundreds of photos of what this could be.
The tintype photograph above is not detailed enough to pinpoint a unit.

John :(
 
Peter_Suciu said:
I've seen the Illinois helmet plates and I don't think they used the Army style eagle plate.
Click to expand...

I've seen New York's and Maryland's - any photo of the Illinois? I have a few US helmets.
 
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