[CIVIL WAR]. Escutcheon with tintype portrait identified to 1st Lieutenant Charles A. Waldron, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, WIA Wilderness, VA.

15 x 21 in. (visible) printed escutcheon, matted and framed, 20 1/2 x 27 in. (wear and scratches to frame, light soil and toning to service record, unexamined outside frame). Civil War service escutcheon featuring a detailed record of 1st Lieutenant Charles A. Waldron's service, including a list of engagements, attachments, and promotions, the shoulder straps and insignia of his various units and ranks, and the Seal of the State of Rhode Island. Center bottom includes a small tintype image of a Waldron who appears to be wearing 1st lieutenant of infantry shoulder straps, approx. 1 1/2 x 2 in. 

Charles A. Waldron (1841-?), a twenty-one year-old from Bristol, RI enlisted on 6/5/1861 as a private and mustered into Company G, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry. Intra-regimental transfers also placed him with companies E, A, and B. Waldron rose steadily through the ranks of this hard-fighting regiment, receiving promotions to sergeant, color sergeant, 2nd lieutenant, and finally on 3/14/1863 to first lieutenant (as of Co. A). Within weeks of his enlistment, Waldron was engaged at the First Battle of Bull Run where the 2nd RI fired the opening volley. The regiment was steadily engaged thereafter including at Williamsburg, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg, where the regiment is honored with a monument. At the Battle of the Wilderness, Waldron was listed as wounded with a severe wound in the left shoulder on 5/6/1864. He was discharged for wounds on 6/17/1864.