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Jeremiah Windfrie Etheredge poses in full battle gear in this hand~tinted melainotype or ambrotype dated to 1861. Wearing a "battle shirt", hat, full leather and back pack rig, and holding an 1841 pattern "Mississippi" rifle first made famous by the Jefferson Davis Legion in the Mexican War, Prvt. Etheredge typifies the look of the average Confederate infantryman of the early war years. Note his determined expression! Jeremiah was born December 27, 1832, and at the age of 28 enlisted in Confederate service as a Private in Company "I" ( "The Jeff Davis Rifles" ) of the 14th Georgia Volunteer Infantry on July 12, 1861. The hard~fighting 14th was a part of Thomas' Brigade, A. P. Hill's Division, in the Army of Northern Virginia. As a member of the 14th, Jeremiah probably took part in the battles of Mechanicsville, fought June 26th; Gaines' Mill, June 27th; and Fraser's Farm, June 30th, and Antietam, September 17th, 1862. Out of 1,097 men who enlisted in the 14th Infantry during the course of the war, 138 were killed in action and 436 were wounded. Another 212 died of disease, and among this latter number was included Jeremiah Windfrie Etheredge, who died of typhoid fever in a Confederate military hospital at Danville, Virginia, on December 1, 1862. George L. Weaver Jackson, Georgia  Back to the photos index page...
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