Full-length standing studio portrait albumen CDV. Alexandria, Virginia: Gorman & Jordan, Army Photographers, 1864. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. Period ink inscription to mount verso reads: "Ellis Spear / 20th Maine Vols." Faded period pencil inscription at top reads: "for Hannah."

This extraordinary, museum-quality full-length portrait captures Ellis Spear, one of the most legendary figures of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry. Photographed in the field in 1864 by Army Photographers Gorman & Jordan, Spear strikes a commanding, resolute pose with his hands on his hips and his sword resting at his side. He wears a double-breasted officer's frock coat prominently displaying a Fifth Corps Maltese cross badge on his chest, standing before a highly detailed painted backdrop of a military encampment featuring tents and an American flag. The reverse of the mount bears the Alexandria, Virginia, photographer's imprint alongside the unmistakable period ink signature and regimental identification of Spear himself, with a poignant pencil dedication likely to his sister, Hannah. 

Spear's name is inextricably linked to the legendary defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. As the commander of the regiment's left wing on 2 July 1863, then-Capt. Spear anchored the extreme left flank of the entire Union army against repeated, desperate Confederate assaults by Alabama and Texas regiments. When the 20th Maine's ammunition was completely exhausted, it was Spear who helped coordinate and lead the famous downhill bayonet charge, alongside Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, that shattered the Confederate attack and secured the high ground. Spear would go on to command the 20th Maine during the brutal Overland Campaign, ultimately rising to the rank of brevet brigadier general. Portraits of the primary heroes of Little Round Top are the absolute apex of Civil War photography collecting; finding an identified, field-stamped image of Spear wearing his Fifth Corps badge is a monumental discovery. That this was a personal photograph sent home to his sister places it in rare air. 

Rarely do images of this historical value come to the market — this is likely a once-in-a-lifetime chance to acquire a 20th Maine-related photo of this magnitude. 

[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 image is in very good condition. The albumen surface exhibits a warm, pleasing tonality with excellent contrast, beautifully highlighting his facial features and the Fifth Corps badge. There is minor surface wear, slight edge wear and a few small surface blemishes typical of period, field-taken photography.