Normally, we do not get too excited about 9th plate images, however this one is a definite exception! In fact, it is truly a “gem”! We are offering a sharp, bright 3-quarter seated image with gold tinting of 1st Lt. William R. Gaylard, Co. I, 3rd North Carolina Infantry. Gaylard resided in Beaufort County, N.C. and enlisted at age 23 on July 3, 1861. Gaylard advanced from 3rd Lt. to 2nd Lt. and then to 1st Lt. on July 1, 1862. At Antietam, the 3rd North Carolina made successive charges into the now famous Miller’s Cornfield and was severely engaged of the Union Twelfth Corps. After devastating loss, the regiment was obliged to retire to the woods around the Dunkard Church. The 3rd North Carolina has the distinction of having the total greatest loss in the bloodiest one day battle of the Civil War. At Antietam, on September 17, 1862, the 3rd went in to battle with 520 men and lost 330, mostly in the short space of an hour. Out of its 27 officers, 24 were killed or wounded (Confederate Veteran Magazine, Vol. 6, page 269). Severely wounded was our Lt. William R. Gaylard. In Fox’s book, Regimental Losses in the Civil War, under the listing of the Battle of Antietam, there is no other Confederate regiment that even comes close to the 3rd N.C. total killed and wounded. For the Antietam collector or the collector of fine Confederate identified images, Gaylard is a MUST! This image is pictured on page 340 of Greg Mast’s volume on A Photographic Record of North Carolina’s Civil War Soldiers: State Troops and Volunteers.
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