This tintype has great size, clarity, detail, and condition. Housed in a full leatherette case with just a separation along the hinge, the matt, glass, frame and glass are intact and the image is set off nicely by the case’s red velvet facing pad and gilt, blind-stamped edge designs. Three officers are seated and shown from the knees-up. Each wears a forage cap or kepi. The two on either side have line officer frock coats. The central officer wears a privately purchased four-button sack coat with a short stand-up collar. All wear sword belts and sashes. Their belts have the sheen of newly purchased or well-maintained gear. The figure on the right has the single bar of a first lieutenant on his shoulder straps and the officer on the left is a second lieutenant. The officer given prominence at the center is likely their captain and we seem to have the officers of one company in a group shot. Their uniforms are neat, clean and well-tailored.

The officer at left wears an infantry officer’s insignia on his forage cap. The other two wear kepis with wreaths. The central officer wears a very plain “22” (reversed in the tintype) in a wreath and his cap seems to register as a lighter color than those of his fellow officers. There are a large number of candidates for the regiment by the number, but the possibility of a gray cap, the two-piece buttons on the central and right hand officer, make it pretty certain that we are looking at members of the 22^nd NYSM, who were mobilized for three months U.S. service in 1862 and one month in 1863. In the latter service they took part in skirmishes near Harrisburg and Carlisle in the Gettysburg Campaign. They are perhaps better known for their 1862 service at Harpers Ferry, where they were the subjects of numerous outdoor photographs, many of which document their mix of state and Federal uniforms, the retention of their gray caps by some, and the use of nicely made fatigue blouses, as well as frock coats, by the officers. With some further detective work it might be possible not only to confirm the regiment, but identify the individual officers. In any case, this is a wonderfully clear image with great “presentation” that really stands out.  [sr]

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