Sixth plate ambrotype photograph of a Confederate officer in regulation uniform armed with three weapons that are usually only seen in portraits of enlisted men. The subject looks directly into the camera with one hand gripping a revolver across his chest and the other a rifle he has propped against his leg. Near the butt of his rifle is a large Bowie knife.

Historic photograph collectors will immediately recognize that it is exceedingly uncommon to see a commissioned Confederate officer pose for a photo so heavily armed. In most portraits an officer's default weapon of choice, if any, is a sword.

Perhaps the subject shown here was trying to project that he would fight just as hard as the men he commanded.

Top-shelf example of Confederate photography and southern portraiture during the war. A small note of provenance states this image was originally found in an estate sale located in Tennessee.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [19th Century Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, CDV, carte-de-visite, albumen, cabinet card]