Civil War Sixth Plate Ambrotype of Confederate Captain T. James Linebarger, 28th North Carolina Infantry, WIA Three Times, In

Lot 81

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6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States

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American History, Featuring the Property of N. Flayderman & Co. by Cowan's Auctions

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American History, Featuring the Property of N...

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Jun 9, 2017 - Jun 10, 2017

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Lot Description

A sublime sixth plate ambrotype portrait of Captain T. James Linebarger in regulation double-breasted uniform with separate period inked identifying notes, housed in a brown pressed paper case, also with pencil identification behind plate.

At the age of 23, T. James Linebarger first enlisted in Co. C ("South Fork Farmers") of the 28th North Carolina State Troops as a private and was subsequently promoted to 2nd lieutenant ((9/26/61), 1st lieutenant (2/27/62), and captain (4/14/62). Miraculously, he was wounded three times during the war--Fredericksburg (12/23/62), Chancellorsville (5/3/63) and Gettysburg 7/3/63--and soldiered on to surrender with the remnants of the ANV at Appomattox Court House in command of the 28th North Carolina. His is the iconic Army of Northern Virginia story supremely documented in the sources.

The illustrious captain penned a wartime diary which was quoted at length in an August 1942 article found in The Journal of Southern History (Vol. 8, No. 3), held in the collection of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. A recent (2013) eponymous regimental history by Frances H. Casstevens contains references and a photograph of Captain Linebarger. Additionally, two recent books by author Don Ernsberger entitled Meade's Breakthrough at Fredericksburg, and Also for Glory, The Pettigrew-Trimble Charge sheds light on the role of the 28th NCST and animate the circumstances under which Linebarger was wounded at each respective battle. On July 3 "as the company approached" the fences at the 'high-water mark' of Pickett's Charge, "Captain Linebarger would be wounded in the groin (but make it back to his lines)." The 28th North Carolina lost its battle flag during the grand assault which was picked up off the field by a captain in the 126th New York. Captain Linebarger's wound was severe; he did not return to duty until October 1864.

Post-war, Thomas James Linebarger (1838-1928) returned to North Carolina and married in 1866. He engaged in farming as the family brood grew to nine children. In 1878 he was appointed Postmaster in Lincoln County, NC, serving in that capacity for a decade before retiring and relocating to Rock Hill, SC. Surviving correspondence from the 1890s illustrates a nearly 30 year old feud ongoing between Linebarger and former senior officers of the regiment. Captain Linebarger earnestly believed that he had been slighted during the war by not being endorsed for the vacant colonelcy. The old veteran died of a heart attack (according to his obituary from the The Evening Herald, Rock Hill, SC) at age 90 on August 25, 1928. He was buried in the local Laurelwood Cemetery in York County where many of his extended family reside.

The consignor relates that the image descended in Linebarger's family through his son Andrew P. Linebarger, to his granddaughter Esther Leona Linebarger who married Roy Mitchell Gullick, Sr. The consignor purchased the ambrotype at the tag sale of the Gullick residence.

Condition

Very good, some separation of the case.
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