1862 dated image

Commanded Union troops at the Battles of Shiloh and Perryville

(1818-1898) Born in Lowell, Ohio, he graduated in the celebrated West Point class of 1841 which contributed 20 general officers to the Civil War. He was a first cousin of Union General George P. Buell, who also served as Colonel of the 58th Indiana Infantry. He was seriously wounded in the Mexican War at the battle of Churubusco, and earned the brevets of captain and major. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was in San Francisco as adjutant of the Department of the Pacific. He was commissioned brigadier general, on May 17, 1861, and upon his arrival in Washington, he helped to train and organize the Army of the Potomac. Buell was selected to lead the Army of the Ohio from Kentucky into eastern Tennessee, but because of the lack of railroads he urged an alternate route via the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers towards Nashville. His plan may have been a contributing factor to the victories of General U.S. Grant at Forts Henry and Donelson which enabled Buell to march unopposed into Nashville. He arrived at the battle of Shiloh in time to stem the Rebel assault of the first day and turn almost certain defeat into a Union victory. He served under General Henry W. Halleck in the Corinth campaign, and on March 22, 1862, was promoted to major general. In June he was detached with four divisions to advance on Chattanooga and to repair the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. In September, he moved into Kentucky to resist the invasion by General's Braxton Bragg and Edmund K. Smith, and occupied Louisville. On October 8, 1862, he fought the bloody battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Following the war Buell lived in Indiana, and then in Kentucky, employed in the iron and coal industry as president of the Green River Iron Company. By 1898, Buell suffering from poor health became an invalid, and he died on November 19, 1898, at the age of 80. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri. General Ulysses S. Grant wrote in his memoirs about General Don Carlos Buell; "General Buell was a brave, intelligent officer, with as much professional pride and ambition of a commendable sort as I ever knew."

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Full standing view wearing a double breasted frock coat with epaulets, gauntlets, holding his Hardee hat with insignia pinned up at the side, with sword attached to his belt. He is posing in a studio with column and drape. Imprint on the front mount: Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1862, by Chas, D. Fredricks & Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. Back mark: Charles D. Fredricks & Co., "Specialite," 587 Broadway, New York. Light age toning and wear. Very fine image.