Camp of 5th Virginia Vol. Infantry, U.S.A...Our Chaplain. Engraved broadside. Kanawha, West Virginia: [Champney (artist), M. Brown (engraver)], 1864. 10 x 11 1/2 in. engraved broadside. Handsomely matted and framed to 15 x 18 in.

An interesting and attractive broadside depicting Chaplain Joseph Little with men of the 5th West Virginia Infantry (USA). Captain Little plays a portable harmonium while a sergeant points out the lyrics to the contemporary hymn "I Feel Like Traveling On" by William Hunter (1811-1877). Under the title reads “Falls of Kanawha, West Virginia, 1864” which was no doubt where the regiment was camped at the time of the depiction.

Joseph Little was appointed Chaplain of the 5th West Virginia Infantry in late November, 1862, with the rank of Captain. He was transferred to the staff of the 1st West Virginia Veteran Volunteers two years later and finally mustered out on 21 July 1865. A photograph of Chaplain Little with his harmonium can be found on the American Civil War Research Database. A distinctive instrument, the portable harmonium lay flat and Little would have worked the bellows while he played the keys. He seems to have customarily laid it upon his Bible, which in turn rested upon a barrel.

Very scarce. OCLC and internet records locate only 3 copies, and only one copy sold at auction in 1966.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Broadside, West Virginia, Musical History, Music, Civil War Music, Instruments, Prints, Engravings, Ephemera]