Sunday, September 1, 2024

Video: Animated Almeda Hart, alias "James Strong," 127th Illinois Infantry

My latest venture into using AI to try to bring women soldiers of the Civil War to life involves working with Almeda Butler Hart who served as a mounted courier for General David Stuart's brigade during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.  Almeda and Henry were newlyweds, and she didn't want to be separated from him when he enlisted.

The audio and video are not perfectly synched.  But I think it's still effective in giving life to this extraordinary woman.  The picture I used is of a younger Almeda when she was a teenager before the war.  She was actually around 25 at the time of Chickasaw Bayou.  At the end of the video, I included a picture of her as she was closer to her time of service.  I didn't use it in the video throughout because the quality is rather poor.