Colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry

Mortally wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia in December 1862

(1835-62) Born in Seneca Falls, New York, he graduated #11 in the West Point class of 1856, and was appointed 2nd lieutenant in the 1st U.S. Cavalry. His pre Civil War army days were spent on frontier duty in Kansas and Colorado fighting Indians. He was struck in the face by the arrow of a Kiowa, while fighting with them on July 11, 1860, resulting in a period of severe pain for Lieutenant Bayard. Commissioned colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry in 1861, he served in the defenses around Washington, and on the Rappahannock line. On November 26, 1861, he was ordered to ride into the crossroads hamlet of Dranesville, in Fairfax County, Virginia, to investigate reports of Confederate activity. Bayard's troopers came under fire from a wooded area with Bayard's horse being killed out from under him, and he was wounded in the shoulder and thigh. He was subsequently commissioned Chief of Cavalry of the 3rd Corps, and brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers on April 28, 1862. Bayard fought under General John C. Fremont at the Battle of Cross Keys, Va., and in August, at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, he led a Union Army advance. After the battle, General Bayard and Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart met under a flag of truce to arrange the recovery of the dead from the battlefield. Bayard and Stuart were old friends from West Point, and their days serving together in the 1st U.S. Cavalry. Bayard was promoted to Chief of Cavalry of the Left Grand Division, Army of the Potomac. At the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., on December 13, 1862, Bayard was awaiting orders at the headquarters of General William B. Franklin when a Confederate battery opened fire on the headquarters. General Bayard declined the warning to take shelter, and an artillery round bounced through the front yard and struck Bayard in the upper leg, doing irreparable damage to his artery. He was taken inside the Bernard house, where he lingered until the next day, dying on the afternoon of December 14, 1862, just four days short of his 27th birthday. Engaged to be married to the daughter of the superintendent of the United States Military Academy, Bayard and his fiancee, Miss Mary Eleanor Bowman, had planned to be married on his birthday. He was buried in Princeton Cemetery in Princeton, New Jersey. On his gravestone is carved, "Sans peur et sans reproche." Translated this means "Without fear or reproach."

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Superb quality seated view wearing a double breasted frock coat with rank of colonel. He holds his kepi on his lap, while resting one arm on a studio table at his side. Back mark: Charles D. Fredricks & Co., "Specialite," 587 Broadway, New York. Very sharp image. Extremely desirable Union cavalry general killed at Fredericksburg. Scarce.