Exceedingly Rare CDV Photograph by John Hale Fouch, Black Hills, Dakota Territory c. 1879.
Western Americana.
CDV (carte de
visite) Photograph. 2-1/2 x 4-1/8 inches.
General Nelson Miles and Staff: Wintertime Photo.
Back Mark: “John H. Fouch, / Artist, / Black Hills, D.
T.” (Dakota Territory).
Reverse side in manuscript ink (in the hand of Baldwin):
“Long, Tilton, Pope/ Miles, Baldwin/ Hargous, Bailey./” “Ready for the/ Wolf Mt.
Expedit/ion -/ 1879”
Our research has not discovered any other printings of
this image with the back mark of John H. Fouch, photographer.
- - -
Historical Notes:
Left to right:
Oscar
Fitzaland Long. N.
Y. N. Y.; Cadet Military Academy, 1 July 1872 (22); 2 Lieutenant 5th Infantry,
15 June 1876; 1 Lieutenant, 21 October 1881; Regimental Adjutant, 31 March 1887
to 29 October 1881; Captain Assistant Quartermaster, 26 May 1892; Major
Quartermaster Volunteers, 12 May 1898 to 13 March 1901; (Lieutenant Colonel
Quartermaster Assigned, 10 August 1898 to 2 March 1899); Major Quartermaster
United States Army, 2 February 1901; Brigadier General Volunteers, 26 April
1901; Honorably discharged from Volunteers, 20 June 1901. Awarded Medal of Honor, 22 March 1895 for most distinguished
gallantry in action against Indians at Bear Paw Mountain, Montana, 30 Sept 1877
having been directed to order a troop of cavalry to advance and having found
both officers killed he voluntarily assumed command and under a heavy fire from
the Indians advanced the troop to its proper position while 2 lieutenant 5th
Infantry and acting aide-de-camp to the colonel commanding.
Henry
Remsen Tilton. N. J. N. J.; Assistant Surgeon, 26 August
1861; Major Surgeon, 26 June 1876; lieutenant Deputy Surgeon General, 12 August
1893; Retired, 2 February 1900; Brevet Captain and Major, 13 March 1865 for faithful
and meritorious service during the war; Awarded
Medal of Honor, 22 March 1895 for distinguished gallant in action against
Indians at Bear Paw Mountain, Montana, 30 Sept 1877, where he fearlessly
exposed his life and displayed great gallantry in rescuing and protecting the
wounded men while serving as Major and Surgeon.
James
Worden Pope. Kentucky. Indiana.; Cadet Military Academy, 1 September 1864 (39); 2 Lieutenant 5
Infantry, 15 June 1868; 1 Lieutenant, 20 March 1879; Captain Assistant
Quartermaster, 20 February 1885; Major Quartermaster, 11 June 1897; Lieutenant
Colonel Chief Quartermaster Volunteers, 9 May 1898; Honorably Discharged from
Volunteers, 2 September 1899; Lieutenant Colonel Deputy Quartermaster General,
5 July 1902.
Nelson
Appleton Miles. Mass. Mass.; 1 Lieutenant, 22 Massachusetts
Infantry, 9 September 1861; Lieutenant Colonel, 61 NY Infantry, 31 May 1862;
Colonel, 30 September 1862; Brigadier General Volunteers, 12 May 1864; Major
General Volunteers, 21 October 1865; Brevet
Major General Volunteers; 25 August 1864 for highly meritorious and distinguished
conduct throughout the campaign and particularly for gallantry and valuable service
in the battle of Reams Station Va. Honorably mustered out 1 September 1866; Colonel
40 Infantry, 28 July 1866 transferred to
5 Infantry, 15 March 1869; Brigadier General, 15 December 1880; Major General, 5
April 1890; Lieutenant General, 6 June 1900; Brevet Brigadier General, 2 March
1867 for gallantry and meritorious Service in the battle of Chancellorsville Va
and Major General, 2 March 1867 for gallantry and meritorious service in the
battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia awarded Medal of Honor, 23 July 1892 for distinguished
gallantry in the battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia 3 May 1863 while holding
with his command a line of abattis and rifle pits against a strong force of the
enemy until severely wounded while Colonel 61 NY Volunteers commanding the line
of skirmishers in front of the 1 Division 2 Army Corps; Retired 8 August 1903.
Frank
Dwight Baldwin. Michigan. Michigan.; 2 Lieutenant Michigan Horse Guards, 19 September 1861; Honorably
Mustered out, 22 November 1861; 1 Lieutenant 19 Michigan Infantry, 5 September
1862; Captain, 1 March 1864; honorably Mustered out, 10 June 1865; 2 Lieutenant
and 1 Lieutenant 19 Infantry, 23 February 1866; transferred to 37 Infantry, 21 September 1866;
transferred to 5 Infantry, 19 Mav 1869; Captain, 20 March 1879; Major, 26 April
1898; Lieutenant Colonel Inspector-General Volunteers, 9 May 1898; Honorably
discharged from Volunteers, 12 May 1899; transferred from 5 to 3 Infantry, 3
Nov 1899; Lieutenant Colonel 4 Infantry, 18 December 1899; transferred to 1 Infantry,
23 July 1901; Colonel 27 Infantry, 26 July 1901; Brigadier General, 9 June 1902;
Brevet Captain, 27 February 1890 for gallant service in actions against Indians
on the Salt Fork of the Red River Texas, 30 August 1874 and on McLellan’s Creek
Texas, 8 Nov 1874; Major, 27 February 1890 for gallant and successful attack on
Sitting Bull's camp of Indians on Red Water River Montana, 18 Dec 1876 and
conspicuous gallantry in action against Indians at Wolf Mountain Montana, 8 January
1877; awarded a Medal of Honor, 3 December 1891 for distinguished bravery in
the battle of Peach Tree Creek Georgia, 20 July 1864 while serving as Captain
19 Michigan Infantry and medal, 28 November 1894 for most distinguished
gallantry in action against hostile Indians near McLellan’s Creek Texas, 8 November
1874 in attacking the Indians with 2 company D 6 cavalry and D 5 Infantry
forcing them from their strong position and pursuing them until they were
utterly routed.
Charles
Emelio Hargous. N. Y. N. Y.; 1 Lieutenant 15 NY Engineers,
1 Dec 1862; honorably mustered out, 25 June 1863; 1 Lieutenant 15 NY Engineers,
22 July 1864; Captain, 17 January 1865; honorably mustered out, 13 June 1865; 2
Lieutenant 40 Infantry, 28 July 1866; Regimental Quartermaster, 15 May to 24
Dec 1867; unassigned, 20 Apr 1869; assigned to 5 Infantry, 9 December 1869; 1 Lieutenant,
21 June 1878; Captain, 12 May 1886; Brevet 1 Lieutenant, 2 March 1867 for gallantry
and meritorious service at Sedgwick’s Crossing Va. and Captain, 2 March 1867
for gallant and meritorious service during the war; Retired, 9 March 1891; died
10 Mar 1891.
Hobart
Kemper Bailey. Indiana. Mississippi.; 2 Lieutenant 5 Infantry,
27 July 1872; 1 Lieutenant, 17 Nov 1879; Regimental Adjutant, 24 March 1883 to
31 March 1887; acting Judge-advocate
assigned, 12 August 1887 to --; Captain, 4 July 1892; Major 5 Infantry, 2 February
1901; Lieutenant Colonel aide-de-camp to General Miles, 6 June 1900 to 31 May
1901; assigned Inspector-General Department, 4 May 1901; Brevet 1 Lieutenant,
27 Feb 1890 for gallant service in action on McLellan’s Creek Texas, 8 Nov 1874.
Reference: Heitman’s
Historical Register and Dictionary of the
United States Army..(1903).
“Fort Keogh had been established in the fall
of 1876 at the juncture of the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers. Fouch became the
first post photographer. In June 1877, Capt. Michael V. Sheridan came through,
leading what was the first official military expedition back to the scene of
the Little Big Horn disaster of the previous June. Its purpose was to disinter
the remains of the officers, including Custer, and bring them back to
civilization.
Anticipating difficulty in
completing his mission, Sheridan barred press coverage of his activities. Ten
days later, Philetus W. Norris arrived at the post, on his way to assume his
duties as superintendent at Yellowstone National Park. Norris, also a
correspondent for the New York herald, was determined to catch up with
Sheridan’s command and cover the exhumations He was joined by Fouch and another
man, and they set out overland in pursuit. Norris, riding ahead of his slower
moving colleagues, reached the battlefield, but not until July 5, 1877, the day
after Sheridan’s group had departed. Returning the next day to the newly formed
Post Number 2 (later called Fort Custer), he encountered and gave provisions to
“my photographer friend Fouch who was then arrived and . . . anxious yet to
visit the Custer field.” – James S. Brust, M.D.
“It was known
that in addition to having taken the first view of the Custer Battlefield,
Fouch had been the first to photograph Chief Joseph after the Nez Percé Indian
leader surrendered in October of 1877.
In
an epic journey the Nez Percé people crossed more than seventeen hundred miles
of wilderness as they stood off the United States Armv over and over again
before finally being run to ground forty miles from the Canadian border and
freedom. The campaign ended with Joseph’s famous words “Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where
the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.” Once again John Fouch’s
camera had been there first, to capture the great chief’s image within three
weeks of his surrender.
But
John Fouch’s work speaks for itself. He was an excellent photographer, who went
into the wilderness when danger still abounded and with his sensitive portraits
and landscapes captured the closing chapter of the long struggle for domination
of the Great Plains. Yet it seems that his frontier efforts were not
commercially successful. Photographs like his are rare because few were
produced and sold in the first place. His grandson recalls his saying that he
“couldn’t make any money out there selling pictures to the Indians.”
My
researches did reveal that John H. Fouch was not totally unknown. The
Smithsonian and the Montana Historical Society have several of his images. A
few of his photographs have been published over the years but usually without
attribution and in some cases bearing the credit of another photographer.”
– American
Heritage magazine, November 1992. Excerpts from an article by Doctor James S. Brust.
- - - The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction in Reno, Nevada, sold
Chief Joseph’s War shirt for $877,500 in July 2012. The identification of the
shirt’s origin is from the first photograph taken of Chief Joseph after his
capture. The photograph was taken by John H. Fouch. The shirt was exhibited at
the Yellowstone Art Museum in December 2012.
Early frontier photograph, early Western pictures, Montana,
Dakota Territory, Wolf Mountain Expedition.
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