The Soldier Behind the Cover

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the identity of soldier on the cover of I Shall Be Near To You. Is it the real Rosetta? And the answer is, alas, no. But it is a real photo of a real Civil War soldier, although his (or her?) identity is unknown. Interestingly, the soldier fought for the Confederacy, so for the cover image, we had to change the color of his uniform.

Here, for the curious, is the full photo (which is available through the Library of Congress), with its original frame (I just love Civil War era frames!):

And here’s the photo without the frame, which makes it easier to really see the soldier: