The first surprise was to discover this photo is an ambrotype. Basically it is attached to glass rather than the copper used with daguerrotypes.
As for the identity of the man in the photo, my family story was that this picture was of a French soldier in Napoleon's army. Given that ambrotypes first appeared in 1854, I think we can say this probably is not a picture of somebody who served with Napoleon. Such a person would necessarily be much older than the man in this picture.
The second surprise came with the somewhat unusual uniform. The uniform is apparently that of a Zouave, and the headgear is called a fez. If you zoom in over the left shoulder of the man in the photo, you can make out the tassel on the fez. So now, we're looking for times and places where the French had Zouave regiments. The following is from wikipedia:
The Second EmpireI have spent alot of time looking at images of French Zouave uniforms, but so far I haven't seen one that comes very close to the uniform we see in our photo. Those uniforms seem to have included a taller fez or even a turban, and the pantaloons were either red or white. Our fellow is clearly wearing darker pantaloons.
By 1852, the French Army included three regiments of Zouaves. Each of the three line regiments of Zouaves was allocated to a different province of Algeria, where their depots and peace-time garrisons were located. The Crimean War was the first service which the regiments saw outside Algeria. They subsequently served in the Franco-Austrian War of 1859, the Mexican Intervention (1864–66) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870). The distinctive dress and dash of the Zouaves made them well known outside France and they were frequently portrayed in the illustrated publications of the period. The 2nd Zouaves (popularly known as "the Jackals of Oran") had their eagle decorated with the Legion d' Honneur following the Battle of Magenta in 1859.
On 23 December 1854 a fourth regiment was created, the Zouaves of the Imperial Guard. The actual formation of this unit was delayed until 15 March 1855 when detachments from the Zouave regiments already serving in the Crimea were brought together for this purpose. The Zouaves of the Imperial Guard served through the remainder of the Crimean War and subsequently in all the campaigns of the Second Empire. Their peace-time garrisons were initially at Saint-Cloud and then Versailles from 1857. This regiment wore the classic zouave uniform but with yellow braiding and piping substituted for the red of the line regiments.
Finally I did come across some Zouave uniforms that do somewhat resemble that of our guy, and they are images from Zouave regiments who fought in the American Civil War! It turns out there were many Zouave regiments from many states, both Union and Confederate, during the Civil War. The uniform that seems to closely match that of our guy is associated with the 146th New York Volunteer Regiment, which was organized out of Utica, New York - coincidentally (?) a location not far from Syracuse where our Coquigne family stopped over for a dozen years before migrating to Michigan. I have checked the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database as well as other sources but have not found any matches for Coquigne, Larobardiere, or Huvier.
So what does all this mean? Maybe the only thing I can say for certain is that this picture was taken AFTER the Coquigne family emigrated to America, and for that matter, after they settled in Michigan. But was it taken in France (or elsewhere in Europe) or America? Maybe it is a picture of a soldier of the Crimean War or maybe an Imperial Guard at Versailles. Or maybe it is a soldier in the American Civil War, maybe from New York or any number of other states, including Michigan. Research is ongoing, and I would most certainly appreciate any feedback on this one!
Meanwhile, I have named the guy in the photo Monsieur Zouave. And wouldn't I love to know who this intriguing character is!
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