Half-length seated studio portrait albumen CDV. New York: Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, [ca. 1863-5]. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. Period ink inscriptions to mount recto and verso read: "Ames."

This sharply focused, half-length seated portrait captures Adelbert Ames, the legendary original commander of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry. Ames presents an intense, highly disciplined appearance with his characteristic goatee and piercing gaze, wearing a double-breasted general officer's frock coat. The image is a superb Brady studio production with excellent clarity that perfectly matches Ames's no-nonsense reputation.

Before Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain became an American legend at Little Round Top, it was Adelbert Ames who forged the 20th Maine into a premier fighting force. A West Point graduate and a Medal of Honor recipient for his stubborn bravery at First Bull Run, Ames was appointed colonel of the newly formed 20th Maine in August 1862. He was a famously strict, regular army disciplinarian who ruthlessly drilled the raw recruits from the Pine Tree State, much to their initial dismay. However, it was his exact, relentless tactical training that directly enabled the regiment to execute its complex maneuvers and survive the vortex of Gettysburg. Promoted to brigadier general just weeks before the Gettysburg campaign, Ames handed command of the regiment to Chamberlain and went on to command a brigade in the 11th Corps, seeing intense, hand-to-hand combat defending Cemetery Hill on 2 July 1863.

In addition to raising the 20th Maine and his heroism at Gettysburg, Ames earned a Medal of Honor for extreme gallantry at the First Battle of Bull Run. It was there that he commanded a section of artillery and stubbornly directed its fire against overwhelming Confederate infantry assaults despite sustaining a serious wound. Famously, Ames refused to be carried off the field; instead, he had his men prop him up on a cannon limber so he could continue commanding his guns until he was simply too weak to sit up. He obviously survived the severe injury to fight another day, eventually taking command of those boys from Maine.

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The image is in excellent condition. The albumen surface exhibits a rich, pleasing tonality with outstanding contrast. There is only very minor surface wear and a few faint specks in the background field typical of 19th-century photography.