GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER (1839–1876), CIVIL WAR CARTE-DE-VISITE PORTRAIT

Albumen print on card mount, Philadelphia: F. E. Thurston, Publisher, 2210 Brandywine Street, ca. 1864-65; imprint on verso. Standard CDV format, approx. 4 x 2 1/2 in. (10.2 x 6.3 cm).

A strong, three-quarter-length wartime portrait of Brigadier General / Brevet Major General George A. Custer, shown in double-breasted frock coat with general officer’s shoulder straps, head turned left. Thurston’s imprint indicates Philadelphia publication from a wartime negative then in wide circulation, reflecting the period demand for images of the celebrated Union cavalry commander of the Michigan Brigade and, later, Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah.

Wartime CDVs of Custer, one of the Union’s most flamboyant and effective cavalry leaders and later the ill-fated commander of the 7th U.S. Cavalry at the Little Bighorn, remain highly sought after. This example, with contemporary identification and a clear publisher’s imprint, is a desirable addition to advanced collections of Civil War photography and American military portraiture.

[Late Indian Wars, Great Sioux War, George Armstrong Custer, Battle of Little Bighorn, Lakota, Lakota Sioux, Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse] [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]