Quarter plate hand-colored and gilt ambrotype studio portrait. Likely a second generation photograph. Richmond, Virginia: Pratt Gallery. Full leatherette case. Photographer's "Pratt's Va. Gallery / 145 Main St. / Richmond" imprint embossed to the vivid purple pad. Poss. Charles. Rees.

A fine quarter plate ambrotype identified as Major Thomas Mundie Burke of the 55th Virginia and his wife. Major Burke was killed-in-action during the "Seven Days Battles" in 1862. Here, he wears a regulation CSA officer’s double-breasted frock coat, with two parallel rows of at least 6 brass buttons sewn to the grey wool and gold braiding (often called “chicken guts”) on his sleeves. He displays a tasseled sword for the camera. Mundie's wife stands beside him, clad in a dark dress with red or pink trim which has been delicately hand colored by the artist. A seven-pointed device attached to her bonnet may be a ‘secession cockade’, which was typically affixed at its center with a military button (such as a state seal).

Thomas Mundie Burke (1829-1862) was a Virginia native, born in Essex County, northeast of Richmond on the coast. He attended the Virginia Military Institute, matriculating on 25 August 1848 and staying for 1 year. He married fellow Virginian Mary Andrews Burke (1832-1910), a descendant of American Revolution veteran Thomas Andrews, on 9 November 1852. Together the proud Virginia couple seen here had one son, Thomas R. A. Burke (b. ca 1860).

At the onset of war, Burke was commissioned as the Captain of Company "F," the "Essex Sharpshooters", of the 55th Virginia Infantry on 21 May 1861. Burke suffered illness in mid November 1861, and (presumably) went home to recuperate before returning on 15 January 1862. In the early spring of 1862, the regiment was assigned to A.P. Hill's Division, Longstreet's Command in the Army of Northern Virginia and Burke was promoted to Major on June 24th, mere days before the "Seven Days Battles," where the regiment ultimately suffered 108 casualties, including Major Burke.

In the first engagement of the Seven Days Battles, the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek at Mechanicsville, Major General A.P. Hill threw his division in a series of futile assaults against the Union's V Corps. During this assault, Major Burke was wounded in the left arm and remained on the field. The fighting, however, was far from over. They were bloodied the next day at the Battle of Gaines' Mill (Chickahominy River) and engaged quickly again at the Battle of Frayser's Farm (Battle of Glendale), while attempting to cut off McClellan's Army of the Potomac's retreat to the James River. Hill's division penetrated the Union defenses, but counterattacking sealed the breach and resulted in brutal hand-to-hand combat. This is when Major Thomas Burke was killed.

After his death, Mary Andrews remained in Virginia, remarrying later in life. Major Burke's name was included on a Confederate monument erected in 1909 in Essex County, Virginia, along with the names of other Confederate veterans. (The Daily Star, Fredericksburg, VA, 26 April 1909). A copy photograph of a war-time photographic portrait by Foster Studio of Major Burke is held at the Virginia Military Institute Archives (0002374).

The rich purple pad of the image's case bears a distinctive "Pratt's Va. Gallery" imprint. The studio was founded in 1846 by noted photographer William A. Pratt, best remembered for his September 1849 portrait of Edgar Allan Poe taken in his Richmond studio just 3 weeks before the author's death. In 1846, Pratt sold the 145 Main St. location to his protege Richard S. Sanxay while Pratt traveled to Europe. It has been speculated that photographer Charles R. Rees used some of Pratt's stock while operating out of Richmond during the War. The quality of the plate's emulsion is consistent with other portraits taken by Rees.

Ex. Bill Turner Collection. Turner needs no introduction to collectors of Civil War photography, as he was a seminal collector and author ("Even More Confederate Faces," 1993) in the field.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases]