Two full-length standing studio portrait albumen CDVs. New York: Brady, [ca. 1861-2]. Military view features Brady front imprint. Modern pencil inscription to one mount verso reads: "Henry B. Hidden."

This exceptional lot features two contrasting full-length portraits of 1st Lt. Henry B. Hidden. In the first image, he cuts a dashing figure in civilian attire, wearing a sweeping dark cloak over a suit, standing next to a studio balustrade with his top hat resting nearby. In the second image, he is fully outfitted for war, standing confidently in a double-breasted cavalry jacket, tall riding boots and a sash, with his officer's saber rigged at his side and his forage cap resting on a chair. The military portrait bears the famous Brady, New York imprint on the front mount. The reverse of the civilian portrait features a modern pencil identification.

Henry B. "Harry" Hidden of the 1st New York Cavalry (often called the Lincoln Cavalry) holds a highly romanticized and tragic place in early Civil War history. On 9 March 1862, near Burke's Station, Virginia, Hidden was commanding a small detachment of just 14 dragoons when they encountered a significantly larger force of Confederate infantry. Rather than retreat, Hidden ordered a daring, headlong charge into the enemy ranks. The shock of the assault drove the Confederates back and resulted in the capture of several prisoners, but Hidden was struck in the neck by a bullet and killed instantly. As one of the very first Union cavalry officers to fall in combat, his death sent shockwaves through the North. His heroic charge was widely celebrated in newspapers, eulogized in poetry and later immortalized in grand historical paintings. 

[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 images are in very good to excellent condition. There is minor surface wear and light age-related fading typical of period photography.