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That is Mosby. No doubt. The expression alone says John Mosby.
It does look a lot like him.
In a Union foot soldier's frock coat? Very similar, but I recall another image thought to be Mosby that ran on a cover of Military Images Magazine some years ago, but turned out to be someone else.
Doesn't look like Mosby to me.
Not only is it probably not Mosby, it is probably not a Confederate. Looks like federal issue trousers, shirt and frock coat to me. Higher resolution scan of the buttons may help with that, too.
May be Federal issue but that doesn't mean he's not Confederate. Many wore Fed issue at the beginning, there weren't enough CSA uniforms available. Must be easy to confirm if Mosby though, just do a direct comparison of a known picture…somebody in Missouri must have one.
Larry, "many" did not wear fed issue at the beginning. Very few might have done so. If they were short uniforms it was more likely to wear something like a battleshirt or some civilian clothing. In the early war, some CS troops had uniforms BASED on US uniforms perhaps, but not absolute copies.
Yes, early on not 'many' perhaps, and not copies. Some state militias wore dark blue til later. Many had none and wore civs. They wore what they had until General Order 9 June1861. Richmond Depot Quartermaster didn't start up til 1862. Many Trans Mississippi outfits wore fed uniforms even til 1864.
Anyway DW apparently makes it moot for this pic.
It is his younger brother, Lieutenant William "Willie" Mosby, according to Loudoun County historian Steve Meserve. He says this picture was taken before Willie joined his brother's command. He was then a member of the 3rd Virginia Local Defense Light Artillery in Charlottesville.
@DW so it *is* Mosby, it's just not *the* Mosby. Love it! :)
Looks like it could be Willie Mosby…doubt it's John. Either way, a great find. I know of one picture of Mosby when he was much, much older that I've never seen anywhere else, and never published. You can see a shot of it on my FB page.