A highly important, matching pair of original horizontal albumen cartes-de-visite capturing two distinct, same-day photographic studies of the magnificent Lewis Reeve Sams Mansion in Beaufort, South Carolina. Both images feature an exterior view of the towering 3-story, 7,600-square-foot antebellum estate, defined by its massive double-tiered verandas, grand classic columns and an intact period lattice-and-picket perimeter fence.

The first view is a wide architectural study capturing a lone figure by the fence line and a bare tree to the left frame. The second view shifts the lens closer to the grand entrance, explicitly revealing a gathering of Union officers and medical personnel posing on the lower porch, steps and along the front gate. Both cards are mounted on classic double-line border mounts with entirely blank reverses.

This exceptional pair represents a top-shelf tier of photographic history from the occupied Department of the South. They were made by pioneering photographer Sam A. Cooley, the official photographer for the Union Army's Department of the South. Built in 1852 by the wealthy South Carolina cotton planter Lewis Reeve Sams, this sprawling Greek revival mansion stands as one of the architectural jewels of Beaufort's historic district. Following the historic federal naval victory at the Battle of Port Royal in November 1861, the white planter population abandoned the town and the United States military seized the estate for immediate operational use.

Throughout the conflict, this grand structure served a vital dual purpose for the federal forces occupying the sea islands. It was designated as a specialized general hospital dedicated exclusively to treating sick and wounded Union Army officers. Simultaneously, it functioned as the official headquarters for Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton, the military governor of the Department of the South. From this very building, Saxton directed the landmark Port Royal Experiment and oversaw the recruitment and organization of some of the earliest legal regiments of African American soldiers in the United States military, including the historic 1st South Carolina Volunteers. 

By documentation of these spaces, Cooley didn't just record the physical footprint of the Union Army's Department of the South; he preserved the exact, high-stakes material culture of the Port Royal Experiment. Today, his rich, horizontally framed landscape views and sharp architectural studies stand as some of the most compositionally sophisticated and historically critical examples of early American photography. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, Tintypes, Cased Images, Union Cases, Albumen Photographs, CDVs, Carte de Visites, Cartes de Visite, Carte-de-visite, Cartes-de-visite, CDV, Cabinet Cards, Stereoviews, Stereocards]

Very good to fine overall. Both albumen prints retain exceptional clarity and rich tones. The mounts are also structurally crisp, square, and untrimmed.