An original albumen carte-de-visite photograph capturing the heavily frayed and battle-damaged national combat color of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, draped contextually over its staff in a studio setting. A lower stripe of the flag clearly displays the painted or embroidered unit designation: "23rd Regt. O.V.[V. I.?]." The lower front margin carries a clean, crisp letterpress studio credit for W.C. North, Cleveland, O.

The reverse features a blank mount backdrop bearing two layers of historical tracking: an early, faint period pencil inscription at the upper edge that reads "Flag of the 23rd Regt. O.V.V. Inf / Charleston / West Virg / 1863" and a bold, darker blue ink transcription in the center that reads: "Flag of the 23rd Regt. / O.V. V. Inf. / Charleston, W. Virg. / 1863."

This exceptional photograph documents the physical scars borne by the flag of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a unit that holds an unparalleled position in American political and military history. Organized at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, in June 1861, the 23rd Ohio was a hard-fighting regiment that served through extensive, bloody campaigns in the Western Virginia mountains and the Eastern Theater as part of the Army of the Potomac. The regiment is universally celebrated as the "Regiment of Presidents," countenancing among its original officers two future United States Presidents: its initial major, Rutherford B. Hayes, and a young commissary sergeant who rose to lieutenant, William McKinley.

The historical data inscribed on the reverse places this photograph at a very specific and dramatic juncture in the regiment's timeline. In the spring and summer of 1863, the 23rd Ohio was stationed at Charleston, West Virginia (then Virginia), performing arduous outpost and scouting duties to secure the Kanawha Valley. The battle-shattered condition of the flag captured by Cleveland photographer William C. North reflects the severe combat the unit had already endured, most notably at the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862, where Lieutenant Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes was severely wounded while leading a desperate charge through a hornets' nest of enemy fire. This card was produced during or immediately following the 1863 Charleston deployment to preserve the visual record of the regiment's early sacrifices.

Wartime photographs of documented, battle-damaged combat flags from elite volunteer regiments are among the most fiercely contested objects in the Civil War marketplace. The desirability of this specific card is exponentially multiplied by its association with the 23rd Ohio, a unit uniquely immortalized by the dual presence of Hayes and McKinley.

[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, Stereographs] [Civil War, Union, Confederate]

Very good. The albumen print exhibits sharp clarity and strong tonal definition. The mount remains crisp and unclipped with minimal edge wear or corner rounding.