The Case of the Misidentified Unknown Soldier

Image Presented as seen on NPR

Upon driving into work this morning and listening to NPR (National Public Radio) I heard a Human Interest piece pertaining to an Unidentified soldier from the 14th Brooklyn N.Y.S.M. Of course I was quite interested as I love American Civil War History and most of all the History of the 14th Brooklyn N.Y.S.M.

The Story was based around a collection of photographs donated to the Library of Congress from the  Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, but on in particuliar had stood out to the NPR reporter Ramona Martinez. She had noticed initials carved into the stock of the soldier's M1855 Springfield Rifled Musket. When asked, Tom Liljenquist suggested that the initials appeared to be "T.A". and could most likely be used as a clue to uncovering the soldier's indentity after all these years! 

Ms. Martinez then went off to start the search for who this Mystery "T.A" soldier was, and from a suggestion from historian Mike McAfee, she knew the soldier was at least a member of the Famed Fourteenth Brooklyn New York State Militia (Red Legged Devils of Brooklyn). So after many hours of research, process of elimination and other unknown reporter work, Ms. Martinez came to the conclusion that this unknown soldier was "Thomas A. Ardies"

Please Click the Link to View and or Listen to the Article by Ms. Martinez "CLICK HERE"

Now, the issue I have is not with the diligence or intent of the article it's that there was an error that should have been noticed from the onset of this great endeavor. What most people don't realize when viewing Wet plates from the 19th century, is that when the image was struck on "Tin" (also known as a Tin Type). The image gets reversed. So when viewing the image, what she perceived as "T.A" was in fact, "A.T". So all the great work she and others did was underm

ined by the fact that they were looking for the wrong person in their research. If you view the NPR website, you'll see a ton of great images used to "Identify" not only the regiment, but the soldier himself.

Image of the Soldier Reversed

I believe that this error does not undermined the intelligence or knowledge of Mr.McAfee, or the fine staff over at the Horse

Soldier in Gettysburg. From what I can ascertain from the article, Mr. McAfee's knowledge was only used to identify the

uniform and regiment of the unknown soldier and the personnel over at the horse soldier were used to gather information on the weapon, the soldier's height etc. Now if it was presented to to the people involved, they would have caught the "flipped"

image issue straight away, but they most definitely were not asked, or made aware.

Here are my findings and thoughts pertaining to the image itself. Since the image used to identify the soldier is in fact a Tin Type style wet plate, the image is without a doubt reversed. This minor detail is in fact a large one, so now instead of the initials being "T.A" they are in fact "A.T". Now, I'm sure some will say it can't be reversed and that it looks correct. But I say this, anyone in the know of standard Civil War drill and firearms know that the lock plate in the image is on the wrong side, the weapon appears to be a "left handed" weapon and those did not exist as standard military issue, especially an M1855 Springfield. Now if you reverse the image you'll notice that the weapon and it's lock plate are on the correct side of the soldier, but the initials are reversed. (As seen in the reversed image i have provided)

I have also created a side by side close up on the initials carved into the soldier's rifle stock so you can see the "T.A" and "A.T" that has been called into question. On the left hand side, you have the "A.T" and on the right
T.A" I have cleared up the image a bit so that you can better make out the initials themselves.

Side by Side Comparison of the Rifle Stock Image Reversed and as presented by the Library of Congress and NPR.

Update: The only other issues with the image that I have is that the leathers are reversed, but this is a simple issue. Most photographers would change around leathers to make the image appear correct, or would just standard equipment and make the soldier put it on if he didn't already have the accouterments with him.

Now the only thing left to figure out, is who this man really is. I have scoured the 14th Brooklyn's entire roster and have complied a list 7 names that this unknown red legged devil could be. Thanks to the extensive work of Tony Dellarocca, Frank J Ruiz Sr and myself we have done our best to compile the most comprehensive location of information on the 14th Brooklyn we can, and it's still a work in progress. (Click Here to View the Source Site). Please view my list below of the men, this man could be! 

The Initials are A.T. and could be one of the following men...

• Co. A: Andrew Turley
• Co. C: Alfonso Thompson
• Co. E: Alfred P. Tickner
• Co. F: Augustus Thiery
• Co. G: Adoniran Tucker
• Co. H: Albert Tibbals
• Co. I: Andrew Thomas

More to come as we get further into this mystery!!

Update: April 12, 2012

NPR reporter Ramona Martinez posted a comment on the NPR site acknowledging the error!

"We are in fact looking into the initials, and probably a week or so we'll have information on who the 'A.T.' soldier would be, how the mistake was made in the first place (and a little more about tintypes and their orientation) and answers to more of your historical questions that didn't make it in the piece due to its length. Stay tuned! In the meantime, do me a favor and remind people we're working on it in case this gets eaten by the comments board! - Ramona"