On the left is a copy of an original tintype of Louis Adolphe Cormier, who became a captain in the 6th Louisiana Infantry and died at Gettysburg; judging from the insignia on his shoulder boards, he was a lieutenant when the likeness was taken, probably in Richmond, VA. The tintype is in the possession of a collateral descendant, Henry Arthur Cormier of New Orleans, and a copy of it was sent to me by my Cormier cousin, Virginia Alonso-Tokarz. On the right is Sandi's rescue of Louis Adolphe's features through the magic of PhotoShop.
The Gettysburg Dead section of Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA, where Louis Adolphe Cormier rests in peace somewhere near his UCV marker, which a family member from Connecticut had installed in 2005.
photos by the author, summer of 2003; marker photo courtesy of Andre Janet via Virginia Alonso-Tokarz
Amazingly, Captain Cormier's uniform survived the War. In May 2008, a reader sent me a link to a website--civilwarshop.com--that offered part of the uniform for sale. Below are pics, from the website, of Captain Cormier's frock coat and vest, including two Louisiana buttons from the coat. This may be the same coat that the young captain wore in the photograph at the top of this page. Notice that one of the brass buttons has what appears to be a bloodstain. Update: In May 2011, I learned that the frockcoat and vest pictured below are now owned by a Richmond, Virginia, lawyer.
Below is Captain Louis Adolphe Cormier's shell jacket. The two pics were sent to me by cousin Virginia Alonso-Tokarz in May 2011. The jacket's lining, depicted in the second photo, is bloodstained, so the captain probably was wearing it when he was mortally wounded at Gettysburg in July 1863. Virginia and her husband visited the jacket at a history museum in Orlando, Florida, but it is owned by a private collector in the area.
