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Very Interesting Early US Portrait


Eric Queen
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I recently found this one on German eBay. What looks to be a shot from probably the 1890's of a man in his 40's.

 

What I found interesting were the medals he is wearing. Three (3) Saxon medals from the 1870's.

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I have certainly seen photos of men wearing decorations from other countries before but I think in all cases those were decorations earned while in the service of the United States. Have never seen a photo of a US soldier wearing decorations earned while serving in the military of another country. Guessing that the man immigrated to the US and joined the Army. Just thought it was different.

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Eric,

 

I am always impressed with your depth of knowledge and your willingness to share with the forum. I think that I am even more impressed by your ability to locate photos showing oddities and rarities like this one. What an amazing image for us to see! Thank you for sharing it.

 

One quick question- I thought the sharpshooter's medal didn't come out until around 1908? This would date this image later than I would have originally guessed.

 

Allan

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Thanks for that observation regarding the SS badge Allan. You could very well be right. I honestly do not know. Perhaps someone else can confirm. Based on the uniform I would have guessed the photo would be from the late 1890's but could have been wrong on that one as well. Odd either way which is why I liked it. Thanks again for the comments.

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Great photo, he is wearing a m1885 infantry dress coat. 12 years of service stripes. model of coat was worn until 1902 by the infantry. Quite a few old former German soldiers served in the U.S. Army on the frontier.

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Strange, I had to look through my collection to make sure someone did not break in and steal my photo :)

 

I believe I posted this before but could be mistaken.

 

This is the one I have in my collection along with the inscription on the back dating it to December 17 1893 and the name Henry Mildi

 

Note the first sharpshooter cross and Marksmans bar were bronze and came out in 1881-82 and then redesigned and made in silver, I have attached both to this post

 

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Sorry couldn't find separate photos of the bars and crosses so if you look in the center of the frame the top is the first sharpshooter cross then the first marksman bar both bronze and then the silver marksman bar and the silver sharpshooter cross that became standard issue

 

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Awesome. Thanks for posting this. Reaffirms the fact than when these guys had portraits made they ordered multiple copies. The one I have must have been sent back home to Germany to a friend/family member and yours was obviously given to a friend here in the states.

 

Henry Milde was born in Saxony, Germany in 1850 and joined the US army in 1882. Looks like he served with both the 14th and 18th Infantry. Seems to have been discharged (Vancouver, WA) in May of 1994.

 

Small world.

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