Trans-Atlantic sleuthing finally yields identity of Irishman in photo
by Michael Hammerson
Courtesy of Michael Hammerson
LONDON -- As an English student of the American Civil War for many years, I am always careful to check our ephemera and photgraph fairs for the occasional Civil
War item which turns up here. However, when, in 1996, a dealer showed me a carte de visite (CDV) that he thought might interest me, I was cautious. The soldier was
wearing what was evidently a Northern Civil War officer's uniform; but on
his breast were two clearly un-American medals, and the backmark was of a
Dublin photographer, which I judged to be of the 1870s. The CDV was cheap --
but I decided to leave it.
Several months later, my copy of Military Images magazine arrived, with an
article about research into a CDV of a Confederate officer killed at
Murfreesboro, with a post-war Scottish backmark; research showed that it
had been produced by the officer's Scottish brother for the dedication of
his memorial. I suddenly saw the Irish CDV in a new light; fortunately, it
was still unsold.
I took it with me on my trip to the Fairfax Civil War show, where
two photo specialists suggested that the medals might be Papal awards.
Thus it seemed possible that he could be an Irish Brigade officer who had
served in the Papal Armies.
A visit to Spink's, London's leading medal dealers, confirmed that
the left-hand medal was the Order of Pius IX, and that on the right the
Medaglia di Pro Petri Sede - the general campaign medal awarded for
officers who had served in the Papal Armies during the period 1860-1867.
But -- had our man received his medals prior to 1861, and gone on to serve
in the Civil War; or had he fought in America, and then enlisted to serve
the Pope? The fact that the CDV was probably produced in about 1870 made
both alternatives possible.
Courtesy of Michael Hammerson A close up of the Papal medals on Coppinger's chest
The Vatican Archives were unable to help; there were no compiled
lists of men to whom the Papal Medals were awarded. An Irish friend, deeply
into both Irish history and the Civil War, came up with several candidates,
including one who seemed to fit perfectly: Captain John Dillon Mulhall, who
was awarded the Order of St. Sebastian and the campaign medal by the Pope,
and then went on to serve with the Irish Brigade from Chancellorsville to
the end of the War. My friend was, however, puzzled by the post-war Dublin
backmark; if he was an Irish Brigade soldier, with Papal Awards, he might
well be a Fenian, in which case, to have such a photograph of oneself
produced in Dublin in the 1870s would have carried no small risk, both for
the subject and the photographer.
Even more intriguingly, I had noticed that the soldier's left arm,
just below the shoulder, seemed exceptionally thin and straight, with the
hand hidden behind the sword hilt in an awkward fashion; and that his left
leg was bent forward - not "jauntily", in a fashionable pose, but
awkwardly, as if he was trying to avoid putting weight on it. Mulhall was
wounded twice! It seemed that all I needed to do was to find an identified
photo of him to confirm that this was our man.
Subsequent enquiries got me no further. It was left to The Wild Geese Today
Producer Gerry Regan to suggest that I should try Brian Pohanka, a familiar
name in the field of Civil War photography. Brian's immediate response was
a virtual certainty that our man was John Joseph Coppinger, perhaps the
most distinguished of the Irish-born Civil War officers to have served the
Pope.
Library of Congress, with photo details by Brian Pohanka Gen. Torbert and his staff. Coppinger, with his long 'Dundreary' whiskers, is seated to the left. Also of interest: The clean-shaven officer seated on the bottom step, third from the right (in profile), gauntlets on knee, wearing a kepi, is Captain Marcus A. Reno, later famous (or infamous) for his role in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn.
Comparison with other photographs -- in particular, of the dashing
young man seated at the left of the photo of General A.T.A.Torbert's staff,
in Vol III, p.167 of Miller's "Photographic History of the Civil War" -
confirmed that this was our man. It is possible that the photograph is a
wartime one - perhaps late in the war, since he looks more battle-weary and
less "jaunty" than the youth in Miller's photo - and that copies were made
when Coppinger visited Ireland to see his sisters during his 1871 army
leave.
What of my thoughts about the possible wounds inferred from the
photograph? It appears that Coppinger, too, was wounded twice -- one, a
serious neck wound at 2nd Bull Run, the other a slight wound near the end
of the war!
