Description
Carte view of identified as lieutenant colonel William A. Coulter of Pennsylvania. As Confederate forces marched north during the summer of 1863, Pennsylvania issued a call for emergency troops to help defend the state. William would respond to the call and would take a commission as a captain with Company D of the 55th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in late June of that year. With the crisis over and the Confederate Army retreating following the Battle of Gettysburg, the men of the 55th would be discharged from the service in August, serving just two months. William would take up arms once again during the late summer of 1864 when he would take a commission as captain with Company D of the 211th Pennsylvania Infantry in September. The regiment would immediately move to Bermuda Hundred and take part in siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond. In March of 1865 they would take part in the recapture of Fort Stedman taking a dozen casualties. During the final assault of Petersburg the following month, the regiment would be hotly engaged resulting in the loss of a 135 men and officers killed or wounded during the battle. William would receive a promotion to lieutenant colonel the following month and the regiment would spend the remainder of the war guarding trains before being mustered out of service in June. This view dates to William’s time serving as captain and bears this wonderful period ink inscription along the front bottom reading “Truly Your Friend Will A. Coulter Capt and A. Ord. Officer 7 Div . ???”. Back marked out of Nashville by the gallery of the Cumberland.
