?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
(MILITARY.) Pair of Real Photo postcards of the 24th United States Infantry musicians in camp. Photographs, 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, both inscribed and addressed to Pittsburgh friends on verso and one with a stamp, but neither postmarked; minimal wear. Pine Camp [Fort Drum], NY, [1910?]
These photographs depict members of the 24th United States Infantry Regiment--one of the Buffalo Soldier regiments. They date from the regiment's time at Pine Camp in far northern New York, what later became Fort Drum. The 24th was there to help clear the land and turn it into a military base. One photograph is captioned in the negative "The Famous 24th Inft. Band, Pine Camp" and shows about 30 uniformed soldiers with their instruments. The other is uncaptioned and shows 7 soldiers on a porch; most are wearing white robes with "USA" on the collars, perhaps as part of a regimental choir. The postcards were both sent by Joseph H. Lee (1879-after 1940), an Arkansas native who first enlisted from Pittsburgh in June 1903, and served as a musician in the 24th until his discharge in June 1919. He has apparently identified himself with an arrow in each photograph. The regiment was later involved in the dramatic Houston Mutiny in 1917; 13 of them were hung and more than 50 received life sentences, but Lee remained with the regiment and was honorably discharged.
