Offered here is a rough, but very neat 1/6th plate tintype of an unidentified trooper from the 2nd Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, otherwise known as Merrill's Horse. The 2nd Missouri was quite active in the western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the war, serving from the fall of 1861 until September of 1865.
     Although there is no ID to the image it is easy to determine the trooper's unit as Merrill's Horse due to the unique “horse-head” trim on the front of the coat. The regiment boasted orange trimmed forage caps as part of their distinctive uniform, however, this trooper is wearing a Hardee hat, which shows up in a number of other images of members of the 2nd Missouri as well.
     Our trooper is well armed with a Model 1840 Cavalry Saber as well as a Model 1843 Hall-North carbine, which is quite rare to see in period photos.
     The image is housed in a leatherette case that is in relatively good condition, with some wear to the higher edges of the embossing.
 
     Although this image has plenty of issues it is still a neat view of a well traveled and hard fought western theater cavalry regiment.