Faces of the Civil War: An Album of Union Soldiers and Their Stories

Pursuit of His Dream Interrupted

18 Capt. Morris J. McCornal, Company L, Fifteenth New York Cavalry Carte de visite by Edwin Baird (1817–1920) & Jessup (life dates unknown) of Middletown, New York, about 1863–1864 19 Pursuit of His Dream Interrupted Morris McCornal dreamed of being a fine art painter. He pursued his passion in Middletown, New York, a small but thriving community where he resided after leaving his home state of New Jersey in the 1850s. When the Civil War started, the blue-eyed sixfooter , a “genial and pleasant man,”24 put aside his ambitions, helped raise Company C of the First New York Mounted Rifles, and was elected its captain. He and his company were ordered to Virginia in December 1861. McCornal lasted only a few months with the regiment. He suffered ill health, possibly from exposure incurred on frequent patrols during the winter months, and resigned in the spring of 1862. In late 1863, he enlisted again, this time as first lieutenant in the Fifteenth New York Cavalry. Various illnesses debilitated him once more, but he managed to recover and lead his company on assignments in Virginia. Promoted to captain in 1864, he commanded his company at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, when Gen. Robert E. Lee25 surrendered his army. After the war, he returned to Middletown and resumed the pursuit of his dream, but success eluded him. He sank into a state of chronic depression as early as 1867, and his condition worsened after the death of his wife ten years later. One friend said of McCornal: “I know him to be a man of artistic talent in painting and that he is making from time to time an effort in his lifelong pursuit, but fails at every instance to continue in his efforts on account of his extreme weakness and nervous disability.”26 Each new failure would often result in a relapse more severe than the previous bout of depression. He managed to earn a living as a sign painter in business with his son Robert, but he never fulfilled his true ambition. He died in 1900 at age seventy-eight and was survived by six children. ...