A very nice horizontal view of a full company of infantry posed along the side of their barracks building in line of battle, clearly showing faces, uniform and equipment detail. The men have fixed bayonets and the front rank is kneeling, as if defending against cavalry, but also as a practical measure to avoid hiding the faces of the men in the rear rank. The three company officers have stepped to the front and are cradling their swords. Behind the rear rank the four company sergeants are spaced out to act as file closers. At the very left a single soldier kneels, probably the company first sergeant, who would cover the company commander when officers were in their combat positions. Corporals are properly placed in the front rank at either extreme of the two platoons, and at the very left of the image, the right of their line, the company drummer stands behind the shoulder of the officer. The man next to him, mostly obscured, is certainly the company fifer. A stars and stripes flag has been borrowed from somewhere, or was perhaps a gift to the company, and is held furled at center.

The barracks is obviously a well-established building. Ventilation boxes appear along the roofline, some with stovepipes. Four barred or louvered windows appear at rear and some men inside the barracks look out to observe the photographic artist at work.

There are more than fifty enlisted men in the company and a full complement of officers. The men show their cartridge box slings with sling plates, and their waist belts, belt plates and cap boxes. They wear dress coats, but fatigue caps, and have the look of veterans paused on the way from or to the front. Many of the men have turned down the collars of their frock coats and the officers wear different non-regulation slouch hats. One of the men standing against the building, from his position a sergeant acting as file closer, may have the star corps badge of the 12^th and 20^th corps on top of his forage cap, but the angle of his cap makes it uncertain.

The photo has been nicely framed and displays very well. The albumen image as matted is just a tad under 11 inches wide and the overall length about 13 inches. The location and date of the photo are not given (though we have not examined the photo out of the frame for clues,) but this is a great wartime image of a Union infantry company aligned pretty much as it would appear in battle that would be a good centerpiece for an infantry display.  [sr]

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