Full-length group studio portrait albumen CDV. Peru, Indiana: Fetter's Celebrated Photograph Gallery, [ca. 1864-5]. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. Modern pencil inscription to mount verso reads: "10TH CORPS BADGE."

This visually spectacular group portrait captures three unidentified Union soldiers dressed in highly distinctive zouave uniforms. The composition features two standing enlisted men holding their muskets, flanking a seated officer who rests his hands gracefully on his sword. All three men wear the classic zouave short jacket adorned with elaborate looping braid, known as tombeaux, over light-colored shirts, along with voluminous trousers and light-colored gaiters. The officer notably wears shoulder straps on his braided jacket. The men appear to be wearing forage caps adorned with the four-bastion fort insignia of the 10th Army Corps. The Peru, Indiana, backmark of "Fetter's Celebrated Photo Gallery" solidifies the men's identities as Hoosiers.

Inspired by the elite French colonial troops of North Africa, the zouave uniform was highly sought after by American volunteer regiments for its dashing, romanticized appearance. While early-war zouave units are well documented, this image dates to the latter half of the conflict, as evidenced by the 10th Corps insignia. The 13th Indiana Infantry is uniquely tied to this aesthetic; after serving extensively in the Department of the South and transferring to the10th Corps in the Army of the James, the veteran regiment was re-outfitted in zouave uniforms. It fought through the grueling campaigns around Petersburg, Richmond and Fort Fisher. This makes the photograph a highly intriguing and desirable mid-western visual record of Eastern Theater veterans.

[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 image is in very good to excellent condition.There is only very minor surface wear typical of period photography.