An original albumen carte-de-visite portrait depicting a Union officer standing in a frock coat and belt, proudly presenting the tasseled regimental standard or national color of his unit. He wears a prominent five-pointed star corps badge pinned to his breast. The front margin carries the gilded text backmark for Webster, Binghamton. The mount features distinctively clipped corners for period album placement. The reverse bears a printed studio line reading "This Negative preserved. / Duplicates may be had at any time without / further sitting" and a blue 2-cent proprietary revenue stamp canceled with a single hand-drawn ink line. Archival pencil tracking at the upper edge reads: "Major Milo B. Eldridge / 137th NY."

This exceptional portrait captures Milo B. Eldridge, who served with immense gallantry as an officer in the 137th New York Volunteer Infantry. Recruited primarily out of Broome County in the summer of 1862, the 137th New York was assigned to the Twelfth Army Corps. The five-pointed star badge pinned to Eldridge's breast in this portrait proudly denotes his membership in this storied corps.

Eldridge and his regiment earned an immortalized position in Gettysburg lore for their desperate actions during the night of 2 July 1863. While the rest of the Twelfth Corps was temporarily pulled away to reinforce the crumbling Union left flank, the 137th New York was left to anchor the extreme right flank on Culp's Hill entirely alone. Under the cover of darkness, Eldridge and his fellow New Yorkers withstood a series of furious, numerical assaults by a full Confederate division. Fighting behind improvised breastworks, they refused to break, preventing a catastrophic breakthrough into the Union rear and saving the army's supply trains. Eldridge's steadfastness under fire contributed directly to his wartime rise to the field rank of Major. This card was produced in his home region of Binghamton shortly after the war's conclusion to record his heroic attachment to the colors.

Authentic wartime or immediate post-war portraits depicting identified commanders alongside their actual combat flags represent a top-tier category of interest for Civil War photography collectors. This is a choice example. 

[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]

Very good. The albumen print retains pleasing sepia tones and clear detail, displaying fine contrast that sharply outlines Eldredge's facial features, uniform details, and the folds of the cased flag. The mount displays typical uniform corner clipping and light surface aging from period handling.