Vignetted bust studio portrait albumen CDV. Augusta, ME: J.S. Hendee, Op. Stanley House, [circa 1864-1866]. Photographer's imprint and canceled two-cent US Internal Revenue stamp to mount verso. Period ink inscription to mount verso reads: "Capt. Jacob B. Loring / Co. B. 1st Me. Cav / Return to / J. P. Cilley / Rockland / Me." Modern pencil notation reads: "WIA GETTYSBURG."

This crisp, vignetted bust portrait captures Captain Jacob B. Loring of the famed 1st Maine Volunteer Cavalry. Loring presents a striking, resolute appearance, wearing a single-breasted officer's frock coat with captain's shoulder straps. The reverse of the mount bears the illustrated backmark of J.S. Hendee's studio in Augusta, Maine, alongside a canceled two-cent revenue stamp. Of historical importance is the period ink inscription identifying Loring and directing the photograph to be returned to J.P. Cilley of Rockland, Maine. Jonathan P. Cilley was a highly distinguished fellow officer in the 1st Maine Cavalry who later authored historical works on the regiment, making this a spectacular piece of internal regimental provenance.

The 1st Maine Cavalry is legendary in the annals of the Army of the Potomac, recognized for sustaining the highest number of battle casualties of any Union mounted regiment. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment was fiercely engaged at the East Cavalry Field. Clashing with J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate horsemen, the 1st Maine played a vital role in repulsing the enemy threat to the Union rear. Captain Loring was among those wounded during the brutal and swirling cavalry combat that day. Portraits of officers from this elite regiment who shed blood on the war's most famous battlefield are highly prized by military historians and collectors.

[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]

The image is in very good to excellent condition; the corners are slightly worn from honest use.