CDV, General Gideon Pillow

Wounded in the Mexican War battles of Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec

Earned the Thanks of Confederate Congress for his heroic actions at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri

(1806-78) Born in Williamson County, Tennessee, he graduated from the University of Nashville, and was a law partner of James K. Polk, future President of the United States, in Columbia, Tennessee. He was active in Democratic politics, and was floor leader in support of the nomination of fellow Tennessean James K. Polk at the 1844 Democratic National Convention. Pillow...  

CDV, General James Longstreet

Commanded the 1st Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia

Severely wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia

(1821-1904) Born in Edgefield District, South Carolina, he was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the Civil War, and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." An 1842 graduate of West Point, Longstreet fought in the Mexican War, and was wounded in the Battle of Chapultepec. Throughout the 1850s, he served on the western frontier. In June 1861, he...  

CDV, General Fitzhugh Lee

Confederate Cavalry Leader, Army of Northern Virginia

General Fitz Lee, was "one of the finest cavalry leaders on the continent." Quote from General J.E.B. Stuart

Severely wounded at the battle of Winchester, Virginia

Governor of Virginia

(1835-1905) Born at Clermont, in Fairfax County, Virginia, he was the nephew of General Robert E. Lee, the son of Captain Sydney S. Lee, [R.E. Lee's brother] C.S.N., and his first cousins were George Washington "Custis" Lee, W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee, and Robert...  

CDV, General Gustavus W. Smith

(1821-96) Born in Georgetown, Kentucky, he graduated in the West Point class of 1842. He was brevetted for gallantry during the Mexican War for his actions at the battles of Cerro Gordo, and Contreras. He was an original member of the Aztec Club. (a military society founded in 1847 by United States Army officers who fought in the Mexican War.) He later served as an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was commissioned a major general in the Confederate Army. During the 1862 Virginia Peninsular campaign, he commanded...  

CDV, General Joseph E. Johnston

Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the Army of Tennessee

Severely wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, Virginia

United States Congressman from Virginia

(1807-1891) Johnston was born at Longwood House, in "Cherry Grove," near Farmville, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in the class of 1825. One of his classmates was Robert E. Lee. He served with great distinction in the Seminole and Mexican Wars, in which he was wounded and brevetted repeatedly. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the...  

CDV, General John C. Pemberton

He surrendered Vicksburg, Mississippi, on July 4, 1863, to General Ulysses S. Grant!

(1814-81) He graduated in the West Point class of 1837, and was commissioned as an officer in the 4th U.S. Artillery. His roommate and closest friend at the Military Academy was future Union General George G. Meade, who defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee in the Battle of Gettysburg, in July 1863.

During Pemberton's antebellum military career he served in the 2nd Seminole War in Florida, and aided in the campaigns against the Cherokees in the...  

CDV, General John Bell Hood

Suffered a crippling wound to his arm at Gettysburg, on July 2, 1863

Severely wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, Ga., resulting in the amputation of his leg

(1831-79) Born in Owingsville, Kentucky, he graduated in the West Point class of 1853. His classmates were James B. McPherson, and John M. Schofield, and he received instruction in artillery tactics from George H. Thomas. All 3 of these men became U.S. Army generals who would fight against Hood in battle during the Civil War. The superintendent at the academy when Hood...  

CDV, Confederate Officer Photographed in Kentucky

Very rare Confederate officer's image holding a Nashville Plow Works Cavalry Sabre, and a blockade-run British imported dual Lion's Head-Snake belt buckle!

Wet plate albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to a 2 3/8 x 4 card. Very rare view of an unidentified Confederate officer standing at parade rest with his drawn Nashville Plow Works Cavalry Sabre at his front. Dressed to kill, this young Reb officer is wearing a kepi with hat wreath insignia, a very rare blockade-run British imported dual Lion's Head / Snake belt buckle, with his...  

CDV, Negro Slave Woman Holding White Baby

Photographed in Lexington, Kentucky

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/4 x 4 card. Seated view of a negro woman holding a white baby on her lap. Backmark: Carpenter & Mullen, Magnolia Gallery, Lexington, Ky. There is a 3 cents green, George Washington, Internal Revenue tax stamp on the reverse. Light age toning, and wear, with minor staining, and some light surface blemishes. Card shows light corner wear. Very desirable war period negro related content from Kentucky. Scarce.

 

CDV, John Wilkes Booth

Assassin of President Abraham Lincoln

(1838-65) The famous Shakespearean actor who was the son of Junius Brutus Booth, and the brother of Edwin Booth, and was part of the iconic Booth acting family. In 1859, he joined the Virginia militia regiment that assisted in the capture and execution of John Brown at Harpers Ferry. For six months he led a group of conspirators that planned to abduct President Abraham Lincoln and take him to Richmond, but the plot failed when Lincoln failed to show up where Booth and his men lay in wait. On April 14,...  

CDV, General P.G.T. Beauregard

With backmark of Vannerson & Jones, Richmond, Va.

(1818-93) The 4th highest ranking officer in the Confederacy. Graduated #2 in the West Point class of 1838. Brevetted captain and major for gallantry in the Mexican War. He was in command at Charleston, S.C., in April 1861, during the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter and rose to instant fame in the Confederacy. He also saw action at 1st Manassas, Shiloh, the 1863-64 Charleston, S.C. campaign, Bermuda Hundred and Petersburg. Beauregard was a railroad executive in the 1860's and early...  

Photograph, General Charles M. Shelley

United States Congressman from Alabama

(1833-1907) He was born in Sullivan County, Tennessee, was taken by his parents to Talladega, Alabama in 1836, and followed in his father’s footsteps by getting into architecture and building. In 1861, he served as a lieutenant of the Talladega Artillery, spending six weeks at Fort Morgan, Ala. His company was then reorganized into infantry, and Shelley was elected captain of the 5th Alabama Infantry. He served in the 1861, 1st Manassas, Va. campaign, and in 1862, he recruited the 30th Alabama Infantry,...