Three-piece CDV lot of officers from the 66th Illinois Infantry.

1. Full-length standing study albumen CDV. [ca. 1862]. Unclipped mount with no photographer’s imprint. Period pencil inscription to mount verso reads: "Lieut. Davis / Dayton / Ohio / 1871." Further research notation reads: "From 66" Illinois Album / Dayton 9-92."

2. Seated study with hat albumen CDV. [ca. 1862]. Pencil inscription to mount verso reads: "Lt. Alvin H. Davis / 66" Illinois Co. K." Further research notation reads: "From 66'' Illinois Album / Dayton 9-92." Subject is shown wearing a slouch hat with a hunting horn insignia.

3. Vignetted bust portrait albumen CDV. Corinth, MS: Armstead & White, [ca. 1862]. Photographer’s imprint to mount verso. Period ink inscription to mount front and verso reads: "Yours Truly / P.P. Ellis / Lieut. Co. G. W.S.S. / 66th Ill Vols."

This 3-piece collection documents officers of the 66th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the famed Western Sharpshooters, featuring two distinct studies of Lieutenant Alvin H. Davis and a signed portrait of Lieutenant P.P. Ellis. Sourced from a regimental album, the Davis images include a full-length standing study and a seated view prominently showcasing his slouch hat with hunting horn insignia. The grouping is anchored by the Ellis portrait, which features a rare and highly desirable theater-of-war backmark from Armstead & White in Corinth, Mississippi, and carries a bold period ink signature on both the front and verso identifying his service in the "W.S.S."

Lieutenant Alvin H. Davis and Lieutenant Percival P. Ellis led their companies through the defining crucible of the Western Theater, where the 66th Illinois earned its reputation as a "fighting regiment." Both officers were present for the unit's most desperate hours at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, where the Western Sharpshooters were thrust into the thick of the woods to stall Confederate advances toward the Tennessee River. Davis, in particular, saw intense action at the Siege of Corinth and the Battle of Iuka, serving in a unit that suffered significant casualties while maintaining the skirmish lines. His service continued through the grueling Atlanta Campaign, where the regiment’s ability to deliver rapid, accurate fire proved decisive in the rugged terrain of northern Georgia.

Lieutenant Ellis’s service is marked by his presence during the bloody 1862 campaigns in Mississippi, a period where the regiment was constantly engaged in high-stakes reconnaissance and tactical raids. While the 66th Illinois was often spared the massed frontal assaults that decimated standard infantry units, they paid a heavy price in the daily attrition of the skirmish line. Ellis led Company G through the Second Battle of Corinth, a chaotic engagement where the sharpshooters were praised for their coolness under fire. Both men survived the war’s most hazardous duties and ultimately saw the regiment through to its final participation in the Grand Review in Washington.

Images of officers or men from the Western Sharpshooters are highly desirable and notoriously hard to acquire. This is a rare opportunity to add three choice examples. 

[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]

The collection is in generally excellent condition, featuring strong tonal contrast and sharp detail across the primary subjects with minimal fading. The mounts remain structurally sound and exhibit clear, legible period identifications and desirable theater-of-war backmarks, showing only typical minor age-related toning.