Full-length standing studio portrait albumen CDV. Philadelphia, PA: O. Knipe, Photograph Galleries, No. 906 Arch Street, [circa 1863]. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. Modern pencil inscriptions to mount verso read: "Capt. Walter S. Newhall / 3rd Penna. Cav. / WIA Gettysburg 7/3/63 / AAAG 1st Brig. 1st Div. / Cavalry Corps. / Drowned in the Rappahannock / 12/18/63."

This striking full-length portrait captures Captain Walter Symonds Newhall in a dramatic profile pose, looking off-camera. He wears a dark slouch hat with an officer's embroidered insignia, a short, tailored cavalry jacket featuring elaborate sleeve braiding, and dark trousers. The CDV presents a superb visual study of regulation and tailored Union cavalry attire. The verso bears the Philadelphia imprint of O. Knipe, alongside extensive modern pencil notations detailing Newhall's rank, his regiment, his staff position, his Gettysburg wound, and his untimely death.

Captain Walter S. Newhall was a highly regarded and famous officer who served as the Acting Assistant Adjutant General for the 1st Brigade, 1st Division of the Cavalry Corps. At the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Newhall participated in the legendary clash at East Cavalry Field, where Union troopers fiercely repulsed J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate forces. During a desperate charge, Newhall was severely wounded, receiving a brutal saber cut across the face. He survived his Gettysburg wounds and eventually returned to duty, only to meet a tragic end months later. On 18 December 1863, he drowned while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River in Virginia. His loss was deeply mourned throughout the Army of the Potomac, and a memoir of his life was published shortly after the war to honor his exceptional service. This iconic image has also been published, most recently in Ron Coddington's Gettysburg Faces. He is posed as he is to obscure his scar. 

An identified, full-length view of a famous staff officer who shed blood at Gettysburg before suffering such a dramatic fate is the exact type of narrative-rich material that advanced collectors fiercely pursue.

[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 image is in very good condition. The albumen surface exhibits a soft, pleasing tonality with excellent contrast.