A grouping of four (4) original carte-de-visite photographs of Union officers and soldiers possessing definitive wartime ties to California volunteer regiments. The lot includes various studio portraits featuring regional West Coast photographers' imprints, including Vance's Gallery (Bradley & Rulofson) of San Francisco and H. Anderson of Eureka, Humboldt Bay.

While the vast majority of Civil War photography originates from the Eastern and Western theaters of operation near the major battlefields, the units raised on the Pacific Coast played an essential role in securing the Western territories, guarding overland mail routes, and suppressing secessionist tendencies in California, Nevada, and Utah. The 2nd California Cavalry and 2nd California Infantry spent their service on strenuous frontier duty, spanning from the coastal outpost of Humboldt Bay to conflict zones in the high deserts. Officers represented in this lot, like Alfred Morton and Augustus W. Starr, represent the core leadership that maintained the Union's presence on the edge of the continent.

This lot includes the following four cartes: 

1. Captain James M. Ropes, Company F, 2nd California Cavalry: Full-length standing studio portrait. Ropes is depicted in a crisp dress uniform with epaulets, leather belt, gloves, and an officer's sword, with his cavalry cap displaying crossed sabers resting on a pedestal beside him. The reverse bears a faint period pencil signature, "Capt. Jas. M. Ropes," along with later archival notations tracking his muster date on August 29, 1861, as a 1st Lieutenant. Ropes later parlayed his frontier cavalry experience into a regular army career and designed the ultra-rare Ropes Pattern Experimental Holster.

2. Unidentified Officer, 2nd California Cavalry (Attributed): Full-length standing portrait of a heavily bearded officer holding his cavalry sword. His forage cap prominently displays crossed sabers with a company letter above. The reverse features a printed photographer's label for H. Anderson, G Street, Eureka, Humboldt Bay, California, a notable frontier post imprint. Faint pencil notation reads "Humboldt Bay, CA / California Cavalry," with an archival query "2nd Cal Cav?" below.

3. Group Portrait of California Officers, 2nd California Cavalry and 2nd California Infantry: A striking three-man group portrait depicting two standing officers flanking a seated officer. The reverse includes a helpful breakdown of the subjects from left to right: Lieutenant R.L. Westbrook (Company A), Captain Alfred Morton (2nd California Infantry), and Captain Augustus W. Starr (Company H). The men are heavily armed, with the seated officer holding an eagle-head or cavalry officer's sword. Captains Starr and Morton were centrally involved in the forced relocations of indigenous populations in the Sacramento Valley.

4. Unidentified California Infantryman: A sharp, full-length portrait of a young soldier standing with arms crossed, wearing a shell jacket with light-colored piping and a forage cap adorned with infantry insignia. The reverse features the highly desirable, large graphic eagle backmark of Vance's Gallery, San Francisco, California, under the proprietorship of Bradley & Rulofson.

[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] 

Overall very good. The images demonstrate pleasing sepia tones and clear detail. The mounts show typical minor edge wear and light surface soiling from period handling.