About the Corporal
Coming soon
This channel is named for Cpl. Pierre Gentieu (1842–1930) of the 13th Connecticut Volunteers. He sketched the war he fought in, was wounded at Cedar Creek, and spent the rest of his life behind a camera. Our narrator, “the Corporal,” is inspired by him.
- Born in Tarbes, France, in 1842; raised in Orthez in the Pyrenees.
- Crossed to America in 1860, then went to New Orleans, where by family accounts he refused to serve the Confederacy.
- Enlisted in Company B of the 13th Connecticut Infantry in Louisiana in 1862.
- His 1863 drawing of the regiment's camp at Thibodeaux, Louisiana, was published as a color lithograph.
- Wounded at Cedar Creek, Virginia, on October 19, 1864, and discharged as a Corporal in August 1865.
- Later worked at DuPont's powder yards on the Brandywine, where he photographed the mills.
His full story, sketches and photographs are on the way.