Mortally wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, Virginia in May 1864

(1807-64) He was born to wealthy parents in Geneseo, Livingston County, in western New York State. His father, James Wadsworth, was the owner of one of the largest portfolios of cultivated land in the state, and young Wadsworth was groomed to fulfill the responsibilities he would inherit. He attended both Harvard University and Yale University, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He was president of the New York State Agricultural Society in 1842-43. Joining the Republican Party in 1856, he was an 1860 presidential elector for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. In 1861, he was a member of the Washington peace conference, a gathering of Northern and Southern moderates who attempted to avert war. Despite his lack of military experience Wadsworth was commissioned a major general in the New York state militia in May 1861. He served as a volunteer aide-de-camp to General Irvin McDowell at the First Battle of Bull Run, Va. General McDowell recommended him for command and, he was commissioned a brigadier general, and on October 3, 1861, he was appointed to command the 2nd Brigade in McDowell's Division of the Army of the Potomac. He then led the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, of the I Corps of the army until March 17, 1862. He commanded the 1st Division of General John F. Reynold's 1st Corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. His division fought like heroes to fight off disaster on July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg, while the rest of the Union army was being brought into action by General George G. Meade, the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac. He was later assigned to the command of a division of General G.K. Warren's 5th Corps in 1864. At the battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864, while leading his men in an attempt to repel an assault, he was shot off his horse, a bullet entering the back of his head and lodging in his brain. He was taken to a Confederate field hospital where he died two days later without ever regaining consciousness. His body was later recovered under a flag of truce. His remains were brought back to Geneseo, New York, and buried there in Temple Hill Cemetery.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Bust view in uniform with rank of brigadier general. Imprint on the verso, "Brigadier-General J.S. Wadsworth." Light age toning. Very fine.