Bust portrait CDV of First Lieutenant Edward Stanley Abbot of the 17th U.S. Infantry, a regular army officer mortally wounded on 2 July 1863 during the brutal struggle for the Wheatfield at Gettysburg. The verso displays a beautifu backmark for A. Sonrel, 46 School Street, Boston, accompanied by an early period pencil identification.

A profoundly moving portrait of a regular army casualty from one of the most desperate areas of the Gettysburg battlefield. The crisp vignette captures the young features of the officer in his regular army uniform coat. The top margin of the reverse features a bold, possibly period pencil signature reading: E. Stanley Abbot. The lower margin is bordered by clean modern research notations tracking his ultimate sacrifice: Edward Stanley Abbot / 17th US Inf. / KIA Gburg.

Born into a prominent, intellectual New England family, Edward Stanley Abbot was a student at Harvard College when the outbreak of the rebellion pulled him from his studies. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 17th U.S. Infantry in November 1862, he served with distinction through the arduous campaigns of the Army of the Potomac. On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Abbot’s regiment was thrown into the roiling Wheatfield and the stony woods adjacent to Little Round Top, tasked with holding back a furious Confederate assault. While gallantly leading his company under a relentless crossfire, Lieutenant Abbot was struck down with a mortal wound to his breast. He was carried from the field to a nearby division hospital, where he lingered until his death five days later. True regular army officer portraits are inherently scarce, and finding an immaculate, local-backmarked print of an identified regular who gave his life at Gettysburg is a rare opportunity. 

Very good. The albumen retains an exceptional, warm tone with outstanding contrast and clarity. The mount is clean and untrimmed.