Lost (stolen), found and sold: 48 portraits from Herb Peck's prized collection, plundered in 1978 Nashville burglary, have new homes after auction

Florida soldier with carbine; siblings with 3rd Tennessee (Fleischer's Auctions)

Forty-eight photographs, mostly of young Southern men toting rifles, Bowie knives, revolvers and fierce gazes, sold for $259,000 (excluding buyer’s premium) at a weekend auction, pleasing the widow and son of an esteemed collector who curated the images before they were stolen in 1978.

The family of Herb Peck Jr. enlisted the help of law enforcement, other collectors and Military Images magazine in their hunt for 117 images taken during a burglary at their Nashville home.

Peck  began collecting in the 1950s ahead of the Civil War centennial, amassing one of the “premier collections of Civil War portrait photography at a time when the genre’s importance was only first being realized,” said Fleischer’s Auctions.

Peck died at age 67 in 2004 before any of the photographs were recovered. One was located in 2006, 39 were seized during a 2020 raid and eight more were returned in the past year.

Herb Peck Jr. with some of his photos in the 1970s. (Fleischer's Auctions)

Fleischer’s Auctions said representatives of the family attended the three-hour Saturday sale in Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s been an emotional process for everyone involved,” the company said in an email to The Civil War Picket.

Adam Fleischer, in a social media post after the sale, said high interest in the photographs reflected Peck’s eye for quality. “The Peck family's decision to share Herb’s captivating images with the public, following decades of uncertainty, resonated deeply with collectors and history enthusiasts alike.”

The top seller Saturday was lot 45, entitled “Confederate with Colt Revolving Rifle.” It went for $32,200 with the buyer’s premium. The subject wears an outdated cap topped by a havelock and holds a Model 1855 Colt revolving rifle. It’s possible he was from Virginia, according to Fleischer’s.

“This is a masterpiece of Southern photography and I chose it for the cover (left) that featured the story about Herb's collection,” Ronald S. Coddington, editor and publisher of Military Images, told the Picket. (Fleischer’s Auctions is an advertiser with the magazine)

Behind that was lot 34, entitled “Masterful Character Study,” which realized $24,300 with the buyer’s premium. The portrait depicts James and Calvin Walker of the 3^rd Tennessee Infantry. Calvin was killed in action in Georgia in 1864, with an eyewitness noting that nothing was left of his head after he was hit by artillery shrapnel but “"...[a] chin and rather long whiskers.”

Images going for high prices included a Tennessee infantryman, Florida soldier with carbine and a Confederate private armed with a Model 1842 musket, Bowie knife, and pair of large Colt Navy revolvers.

Coddington said he found lot 28, a photograph of a Confederate first sergeant, to be particularly compelling (right, courtesy Fleischer's Auctions).

He cites “the focal clarity of the image, the look of the soldier, the way he holds his saber and the unusual paper mat that was likely used as a substitute for brass mats that were unavailable in the South due to the blockade and loss of territory.”

Ahead of the sale, Fleischer’s Auctions said the collection was once thought lost forever.

Coddington, in a Military Images article about Peck, said photographs from the collection were published in “The Civil War” by Ken Burns and in more than 50 books, magazines and articles, including Time-Life’s “The Civil War” series, the “Confederate Faces” series and “Civil War Times.”

Burglars hit the Peck home in September 1978, making away with 117 images, cameras and more than a dozen weapons.

Law enforcement agencies in Tennessee and the FBI worked on the case as several photographs appeared for sale on online sites. The FBI office in Indianapolis netted one image in 2006.

Peck’s son asked Military Images to revive the case in 2016 and he created a poster showing many of the photographs. The FBI and police in Ethridge, Tenn., recovered 39 images in an October 2020 raid. Eight more turned up later. (Southern musicians with fife and drum, left)

About 70 photographs are still to be recovered, according to Coddington. The publisher says the family is committed to their return. “Due to the active nature of the investigation and concerns from the family about jeopardizing the investigation, this is all I am able to state at this time.”

Saturday’s auction must have brought some satisfaction to Peck’s family.

Peck’s widow, Felicity, previously told Military Images: “I remember how distressed the collectors were at the time of the burglary. It has always been a comfort to me that others care about the importance of these images as historical, visible and tangible evidence of this country.”

A touching photograph of Union amputees at Gettysburg is published in print for the first time. The young soldiers looked so vulnerable

Peter Weaver took this image at Camp Letterman (Courtesy Fred Sherfy Collection)

Even after 160 years, unpublished photographs associated with the Battle of Gettysburg occasionally come to light, including one depicting Federal amputees and other wounded recovering at a hospital.

The Center for Civil War Photography and the Adams County Historical Society on Sunday evening unveiled a compelling image made by Peter Weaver at Camp Letterman, a military hospital that operated for several months outside Gettysburg.

The scene is a mix of wounded soldiers with civilians in front of a large tent. In the center, an older man places his hands on a young man and woman.

“My sense is that that man touching the two heads could very well be the father,” renowned Civil War photography expert William A. Frassanito told the crowd at a battle anniversary event at the society’s new “Beyond the Battle” museum in Gettysburg.

“He is touching the son and then the wife. It is not just happenstance, he just happened to be there. The young soldier, he is so very young, I don’t recall ever seeing a photograph with such a touching, almost family type connection with it,” said Frassanito.

The photograph was likely taken by Weaver in October or November 1863, a few months after the battle. The Center for Civil War Photography has published the image for the first time on the printed page in the new issue it historical journal “Battlefield Photographer.”

Copies were made available for the audience and they were given 3D glasses to view it and other Weaver photos in the issue. (About 70 percent of photos taken during the conflict were in 3D).

Fred Sherfy, whose family managed the Peach Orchard, the scene of furious fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg, obtained the albumen print and others from a collection in Hanover, Pa., where Weaver had a studio.

Weaver took about 75 photos after the battle at Camp Letterman and other locations. There are other known photos taken by other artists of the wounded at the hospital that treated thousands of soldiers from both sides.

Sherfy found eight Weaver prints wrapped in newspapers while going through a box, said Bob Zeller, president and co-founder of the CCWP. Three, including “A few of the Wounded,” had not been seen before. Sherfy is a member of the CCWP.

Camp Letterman operated for several months in 1863 (Library of Congress)

American Battlefield Trust chief historian Garry Adelman, a Gettysburg licensed battlefield guide and vice president of CCWP, told the large crowd, “I remain astounded that we continue to find images that haven’t been seen on the printed page.”

“I have never seen a photo with so many young wounded in it. Look at these kids,” Adelman said, adding their identities and circumstances are unknown.

In a press release about the unveiling of the Weaver image, Adelman says:

“This is a photograph that allows you to step back into the moment and be able to see soldiers who are vulnerable in a way that no other photo from Camp Letterman seems to show. In that sense, it is one of the most striking and emotional of all of the photographs at Gettysburg.”

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