Vignetted bust studio portrait albumen CDV. Boston: C. Seaver, Jr. Photographer, 27 Tremont Row, [ca. 1862-3]. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. Modern pencil inscriptions to mount verso read: "Cyrus Tay / 32ND MASS / WIA GETTYSBURG."

This soft, vignetted bust portrait captures Capt. Cyrus Tay of the 32nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Tay presents a steadfast, veteran appearance with a short beard and an intense gaze, wearing a single-breasted officer's frock coat. It was produced by C. Seaver, Jr., of Boston. 

Tay and the 32nd Massachusetts were thrust into some of the most chaotic and brutal combat of the entire war on the afternoon of 2 July 1863. Operating as part of Sweitzer's Brigade in the Fifth Corps, the regiment was sent into the swirling maelstrom of The Wheatfield to stem the Confederate tide. During the vicious, close-quarters fighting against surging Rebel assaults, the regiment took heavy casualties, and Tay fell severely wounded. Tay is a remarkably well-documented figure of the battle; his combat experience and his famously battle-damaged weapon were even the subject of a dedicated historical study by the legendary late Civil War historian Wiley Sword titled, "Cyrus Tay's Battered Sword and the 'Lucky' 32nd Massachusetts' Fight in The Wheatfield."

Tay survived the severe wound he received in The Wheatfield and managed to fully recover. He eventually returned to the 32nd Massachusetts and continued to serve through the remainder of his enlistment.

Following the conflict, he returned home to Woburn, Massachusetts. A hotel keeper and farmer by trade before the war, he resumed his civilian life but remained deeply connected to his military roots. He stayed highly active in local military circles and continued to wear a uniform long after the Civil War ended, serving for several years as an officer in the post-war Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. 

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The image is in good condition. The albumen surface exhibits a soft tonality with noticeable age-related fading, though his facial features and expression remain distinct.