Information Sheet

 

 

R         Drake, Stephen S., 1833-1913.

572                  Collection, ca. 1865.

                                    One folder.

 

 

 

This is a copy of a Civil War photograph of Stephen S. Drake of Company H of the 2nd Mis­souri Cavalry (“Merrill’s Horse”).  There is also a biographical sketch provided by the donor.

 

Stephen S. Drake was a native of Tompkins County, New York.  He was a resident of Michi­gan when the Civil War broke out.  He enlisted in Merrill’s battalion of Missouri Cavalry (later part of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry) on 30 August 1861, and served as the regiment’s black­smith through the duration of the war.  He returned to Michigan after his discharge.

 

The 2nd Missouri Cavalry was organized in the fall of 1861 at Benton Barracks in St. Louis.  The regiment operated against guerrillas in northern Missouri from January 1862 through June 1863, when it was assigned to the District of Southeast Missouri and Gen. John W. David­son’s Cavalry Division at Pilot Knob, Missouri.  The 2nd Missouri Cavalry participated in the Little Rock campaign in the fall of 1863, served in the Department of Arkansas in 1863-1864, re­turned to Mis­souri briefly during Price’s Expedition, and finished the war in Georgia and Ten­nessee.

 

The photograph of Stephen S. Drake is a laser copy of the original image, which appears to have been a retouched “hard” image.  Drake wears a cavalry jacket bearing a horseshoe badge on the sleeve indicating Drake’s position as blacksmith.

 

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