Full-length studio portrait albumen CDV. Unidentified photographer, [circa 1862]. Period and research pencil identifications to mount recto and verso read: "Henry Moulton / N.H. Vols / Co. I, 16th Vol. Inft / Enl. Oct. 3, '62 / Died: May 14, '63 Butte-a-la-Rose, LA."

This exceptional full-length study captures Henry Moulton in heavy marching order, the quintessential "backpack guy" aesthetic that was a cornerstone of the Rick Carlile collection. Moulton is outfitted in a nine-button frock coat, holding his rifled musket with a fixed bayonet. His complete field gear — including a double-bag knapsack with strapped blanket roll, haversack, canteen and waist belt with a prominent "US" plate — is displayed with remarkable clarity. His forage cap, featuring the "I" company letter and "16" regimental numbers, rests on a pedestal to his right.

Moulton’s service was brief but emblematic of the high cost of the Louisiana campaigns. Enlisting in October 1862, he deployed with the 16th New Hampshire to the Department of the Gulf as part of the Banks Expedition. The regiment was tasked with securing the treacherous waterways of the Atchafalaya Basin. Moulton survived the initial skirmishing but fell victim to the true scourge of the Gulf campaigns: disease. He died on 14 May 1863, at Butte-à-la-Rose, Louisiana, a remote outpost where the regiment was nearly decimated by swamp fever and malaria while guarding the approach to Port Hudson.

Because Moulton died in service during the spring of 1863, his story remains frozen in this single likeness. His name is memorialized on the rolls of New Hampshire’s fallen, part of the staggering number of Granite State men who never returned from the Southern bayous. For his family, this CDV likely served as the primary memorial to a young man who gave his life not to a bullet, but to the grueling environment of the Deep South.

[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 generally excellent condition, featuring strong tonal contrast and exceptional detail in the leather gear and brass insignia. The albumen surface is well-preserved with a pleasing light sheen and minimal age-related toning. The mount remains structurally sound with clean edges.