American Historical Ephemera and Photography

GWYNN, Walter. CDV standing portrait of CSA engineer Walter Gwynn in uniform. N.p. [Charleston, S.C.], n.d. [ca 1861]. Albumen photograph on plain cardstock mount (toning, spotting, light abrasion to base of mount). No backmark, but with pictorial paper label of "Quinby Photog. / Charleston, So. Ca."

[With:] A small grouping of war-date and post-war papers and ephemera associated with Walter Gwynn's nephew, Walter Gwynn Turpin, comprising: two documents from February 1865 related to his Masonic degree. -- A farewell letter of 1 May 1865 to Turpin from his former commanding officer, paroled Confederate Brigadier General Walter H. Stevens, stating that he "marked with pleasure [Turpin's] skill and energy as an engineer, and [his] fidelity as an officer" and tendered him his best wishes. -- A business card for "Turpin, Hutton & Murdoch / Architects and Civil Engineers" of Richmond, VA and an envelope with return address to "Walter G. Turpin, Engr. James River Improvement." -- The Gwynn family crest embossed on a blank business card. -- A well-preserved leather wallet, approx. 8 x 4 1/2 in. when closed, identified on interior flap "W.G. Turpin / Supt. 1st Sec. J.R. & K Canal."

[Also with:] Confederate Quartermaster's Department travel pass issued to "Jas Piper & one man" for travel on a packet boat into Richmond, 6 July 1864. -- Clipped newspaper obituary of Gen. Walter Gwynn, Baltimore Sun, 8 [February 1882]. -- A typed transcript of an 1864 letter describing Gwynn family ancestors. -- Modern documents with informal notes on Gwynn family history, photocopies of research related to Gwynn family history.

Similar to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the C.S.A. Corps of Engineers played an important role in the Confederate States and in their prosecution of the Civil War. A West Point graduate, Walter Gwynn was one of the South's leading railroad construction engineers from the 1830s-1850s. He retired to Charleston, S.C. in 1857 and became a major of the engineers in the South Carolina militia. In May 1861 he was given the rank of major in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America and charged with constructing the batteries at various strategic Charleston points. He remained in the service of the Confederacy until 1863 rising to the rank of colonel. After the war, Gwynn returned to civil engineering in North Carolina. Walter Gwynn's nephew, Walter Gwynn Turpin, was also a Confederate engineer. He served the duration of the war in the Dept. of Norfolk, Valley District, and Defenses of Richmond with the ranks of captain and Acting Chair of Construction Department of Virginia.

An interesting grouping related to an often overlooked branch of the Confederate war effort.