This 4-piece collection of CDVs features a heavy-hitting, somber roster of officers and line leaders from the legendary 124th New York Volunteer Infantry, the "Orange Blossoms." Every portrait in this grouping tracks a veteran who suffered severe battlefield trauma or a mortal wounding during the regiment's high-attrition campaigns in the Eastern Theater. The lot includes:

1. Lieutenant William Henry Benjamin: Seated full-length studio portrait albumen CDV. Newburgh, NY: Lawrence, [ca. 1863]. Captures Benjamin in a relaxed, cross-legged posture wearing a slouch hat and an officer's frock coat with shoulder straps. The reverse bears a Lawrence backmark featuring a masonic square and compass graphic. It is heavily inscribed with period and modern collector research detailing his identity and promotions: "Lieutenant Henry Benjamin / (William H.) Sgt. Co G / 2d Lt. Co. G / 1st Lt. Co. E." 

2. Private Norman Sly: Seated three-quarter length portrait albumen CDV. Philadelphia, PA: J. R. Laughlin, [ca. 1862]. Documents the young volunteer in a buttoned four-button sack coat, looking intently toward the viewer against a simple draped studio background. The reverse features a prominent Laughlin backmark from the northwest corner of Twelfth & Market Streets, affixed with a blue two-cent Washington proprietary revenue stamp. Meticulous collector annotations track his extreme combat exposure, recording: "WIA, Wilderness / WIA, Spotsylvania" along with his unit identification "Norman Sly / 124th NYVI from / JNo S Lovel Album."

3. Sergeant Watson Ritch: Vignette bust portrait albumen CDV. Middletown, NY: E. Jessup, [ca. 1862]. A crisp, clean study of the young non-commissioned officer dressed in a civilian jacket and bow tie. The reverse carries a central E. Jessup imprint from Middletown, New York, enhanced by research tracking his sacrifice: "Sgt Watson Ritch / Co K / 124th NY / Mortally wounded at Petersburg."

4. Captain Edward Carmick: Full-length standing studio portrait albumen CDV. Philadelphia, PA: Wenderoth & Taylor, 912-914 Chestnut Street, [ca. 1864]. A commanding portrait of Carmick standing in full marching order, attired in an officer's frock coat and forage cap, resting his hand on a carved parlor chair next to a heavy curtain drape. The reverse bears an ornate Wenderoth & Taylor backmark. Inscriptions track his identity and battle wounds: "Capt Edward Carmick" and "WIA, Spotsylvania / WIA, Boydton Plank Road."

Lieutenant Henry Benjamin climbed from sergeant to line officer, shedding his blood during the grinding operations against the Petersburg entrenchments. Private Norman Sly of Company D managed the harrowing feat of surviving separate woundings at two of the war's most concentrated infantry struggles—the Wilderness and the Bloody Angle of Spotsylvania. Captain Edward Carmick similarly survived a wounding at Spotsylvania, only to bleed again during the late-war struggle at Boydton Plank Road in October 1864. Most tragically, the portrait of Sergeant Watson Ritch of Company K preserves the image of a soldier who gave his life, succumbing to wounds suffered during the punishing operations before Petersburg.

The 124th New York, hailing primarily from Orange County, sustained some of the highest casualty percentages of any infantry command in the Union Army, cementing an immortal combat record at Gettysburg's Devil's Den and throughout Grant's Overland Campaign. This specific lot serves as a powerful testament to that relentless attrition.

[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]

The prints and mounts are in excellent condition, showing sharp detail, strong contrast, and square corners with only minor age-related toning on the backs.