Colonel David C. Gamble, 66th Illinois Volunteers, The Western Sharpshooters, Rare Signed CDV 

CDV of Colonel David C. Gamble (1837-1884) of the 66th Illinois Volunteers,"The Western Sharpshooters" (aka "Birge's Western Sharpshooters"). Signed and dated Aug. 11, 1866, with Morse's Gallery of the Cumberland, Nashville, TN, backmark and tax stamp on verso. This view was taken during the two-year period that Gamble lived in Nashville, TN.

New York native David Gamble moved to Illinois in 1853, and at the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted as a private in Co. B, 12th Illinois Infantry. He was soon elected 1st lieutenant and returned to Illinois to recruit, but resigned after becoming sick. Gamble reenlisted as a private in Co. E of the 66th Illinois Infantry, then known as "Birge's Sharpshooters," and was quickly promoted to 1st sergeant. Gamble was later appointed captain of Co. E, 6/63; major, 4/65; lt. colonel of Sharpshooters, 7/65. He fought in 22 pitched battles, besides other skirmishes. He was with Sherman on his march to the sea, and was severely wounded in the left arm in May 1864 at Dallas, GA. The Sharpshooters were disbanded in July 1865. Gamble lived and worked as a book salesman in Nashville from 1865-67, the time when this photograph was taken. He moved to Illinois in 1867 and then Kansas in 1870 where he sold real estate. He was the postmaster of Seapo, KS, until 1875, and from 1875-1876 County Superintendent of Schools. His real estate business boomed and in 1882 he established a branch office in Clyde, KS. He served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1882 until his early death in 1884 at age 47. GAR Post 345 in Cuba, KS, was founded and named in his honor in 1884.

The Western Sharpshooters, consisting of companies from different Midwestern states, were the western counterpart of "Berdan's Sharpshooters" under Colonel Hiram Berdan, of the Army of the Potomac. Their permanent mission was skirmishing. They also carried out the sniper mission in fixed/siege situations. The Western Sharpshooters had numerous name changes, starting out as "Birge's Western Sharpshooters", then re-designated as "Western Sharpshooters-14th Missouri Volunteers"; then redesignated as "66th Illinois Volunteer Infantry (Western Sharpshooters)". They served in over 50 actions and 16 major battles, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the Corinth Campaign, Iuka, 2nd Corinth, the Atlanta Campaign, the Carolinas Campaign, and various counter-guerrilla operations. The regiment was armed with unique weapons: hand-made, octagonal barrel, half-stock Plains Rifles, 150 of which were made by gun maker H.E. Dimick of St. Louis, via a contract from General John Fremont (commander of the Western Department). Dimick even made specialized bullets for his guns he made to ensure long-range accuracy. Unit members could hit a man-sized target at 600 to 1,000 yards. At Ft. Donelson, General Smith specifically commended the regiment's effectiveness in suppressing the artillery of Porter's and Grave's Batteries. When General Fremont authorized Colonel Birge, the regiment's first commander, to create this regiment, he required that the men in the unit produce "satisfactory evidence of their ability to hit a target at two hundred yards no thee shots to measure more than ten inches." In all, the regiment had 227 fatalities-- 6 officers and 73 enlisted men were killed in action or mortally wounded. Two officers and 146 enlisted men died of disease.

Bottom corners clipped. Edge and corner wear to mount.