Sgt. Major Horace Nichols Loudon
You may recall that 2 years ago, I challenged Yale University's Beinecke Library on their identification of a 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment soldier in an image in their collection. The image is part of their Randolph Linsly Simpson African-American Collection. Randolph Linsly Simpson was a collector of African-American items. After his death in 1992, his collection fell into the hands of a New York auction house, then purchased by Yale.
Beinecke Library identified the soldiers in the image as Alexander Herritage Newton (left) and Daniel Stanley Lathrop (right). Because of that identification, this image has been referenced as such in hundreds of publications, including the book “Yale and Slavery“ by David Blight, the Yale and Slavery exhibit at the New Haven Museum, by Pamplin Historical Park in Petersburg, VA, and as one of the individuals etched into the 29th Connecticut Colored Regiment Monument in New Haven, CT.
While the individual on the right is accurately identified as Daniel Stanley Lathrop, I knew the individual on the left WAS NOT Alexander Herritage Newton. Alexander wrote a book in 1910, in which he shared 3 pictures of himself... none of which look anything like the individual on the left. I reached out to the Beinecke Library in December 2023, asking their thoughts... they agreed, however, no change was made.
Since then, I've discovered exactly who the soldier on the left is. His name is Horace Nichols Loudon. He was promoted to Sergeant Major on February 25, 1864… the exact same day Daniel Lathrop was promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant. This is likely why they took this picture together. He was an extraordinary individual who rallied to convince Black men from Connecticut to enlist. He traveled to Connecticut towns speaking to groups of Black men about the importance of fighting for freedom. Not only that, he died at war, buried in Beaufort, South Carolina. All of that, and we have forgotten who he was, calling him by the wrong name in publication and in referencing a monument.
Today, I was contacted by Beinecke Library. They apologized for being so delayed in making this correction. They told me that they are correcting their collection now to remove the name Alexander Herritage Newton, replacing it with Horace Nichols Loudon. They indicated their records and online collection will be updated within the next couple days. You can get to the online image here.
Also, I am getting close to finding Horace Loudon's current-day descendants. It will be a special thing to introduce them to their ancestor for the first time on the facade of the Criscuolo Park monument.
If you would like to help me continue in this type of work, please consider donating to my non-profit at https://alexbreanne.org/donate.
Thank you and God Bless.
John
