Image is a full standing view of Peck in uniform. He wears a light-colored double-breasted frockcoat with matching trousers. His collar rank looks to be the three stars of a colonel and galloons are visible on his sleeves.

Contrast and clarity are good. Paper and mount show minor edge wear and light surface dirt.

Reverse has a photographer’s imprint for E. J. REES & CO… RICHMOND, VA. There is an incorrect modern pencil ID of “WM. PECK, COL. 9^th LA.” Bottom also has collector information in pencil.

Photo is from the collection of the late William A. Turner.

William Raine Peck was born in rural Mossy Creek in Jefferson County, Tennessee on January 31, 1818. His family relocated to Louisiana in the 1840s. As a young adult, he bought a plantation across the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, Mississippi. He prospered and became one of the region's wealthiest citizens. He constructed a sprawling mansion, "The Mountain," in Madison Parish not far from the village of Milliken's Bend.

Peck represented Madison Parish for several years in the Louisiana State Legislature. A firebrand secessionist and advocate of states' rights, he was a signatory to the Louisiana Ordinance of Secession in January 1861.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Peck enlisted as a private in the 9th Louisiana Infantry on July 7, 1861. After training at Camp Moore in Louisiana, Peck and his fellow soldiers in the regiment were sent to Virginia, arriving too late for any significant participation in the First Battle of Manassas.

Peck was commissioned as captain and then lieutenant colonel of the 9th Louisiana during the Gettysburg Campaign, and saw action at the Second Battle of Winchester in June and the Battle of Gettysburg in July, where he was involved in the twilight attack on Cemetery Hill.

On October 8, 1863, Peck was promoted to colonel of the 9th Louisiana. He led the regiment in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor in May and June 1864 during the Overland Campaign.

Peck often led the brigade as the senior colonel, and his role in the July 1864 Battle of Monocacy drew praise from his division commander, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon. He was wounded in the right thigh by a shell fragment at the Third Battle of Winchester in September. He did not return to the field until December. Peck was promoted to brigadier general on February 18, 1865. He was paroled in Vicksburg on June 6 of that year.

Following the Civil War, Peck returned to his Louisiana plantation and resumed active management of the business. Plagued by poor health from his military service, he died six years after the war near Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, of congestive heart failure. He is buried in the family plot in the Old Methodist section of Westview Cemetery in Jefferson City, Tennessee.   [ad] [ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!