Full-length studio portrait albumen CDV. Boston, MA: Black & Case, [circa 1864]. Photographer’s imprint to mount recto and verso. Three-cent green Washington proprietary revenue stamp to mount verso. Comprehensive research and biographical notations to mount verso.

This evocative seated study captures Lucius Manlius Sargent, Jr., a Harvard-educated surgeon who traded his medical instruments for a cavalry saber. Captured by the premier Boston firm of Black & Case, Sargent is shown in his officer’s uniform, posed in a thoughtful, contemplative manner with his hand to his chin. The reverse of the mount is a historian's goldmine, covered in detailed research notations that chronicle his rapid rise from surgeon to a combat commander, as well as the heroic circumstances of his death.

Sargent’s combat record is among the most dramatic of the Massachusetts cavalrymen. Originally commissioned as a surgeon, his natural leadership led to a combat commission. At the Battle of Aldie on June 17, 1863, he was severely wounded and reportedly "left on the field for dead." Defying the odds, he recovered and returned to lead the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. His service came to a tragic end on December 9, 1864, during the Hicksford Raid (Bellfield). While leading a "most gallant charge" at the head of his mounted column, Sargent was struck by a shell and killed instantly, sword in hand. General Davies later noted that Sargent’s bravery "contributed to an eminent degree to the success of the late movement."

This is a premier, deeply researched portrait of a surgeon-turned-commander who was left for dead at Aldie and ultimately killed while leading a gallant cavalry charge at Bellfield.

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