Quarter plate daguerreotype of a US artillery lieutenant taken during the Mexican War era. Full leatherette case.

A strikingly candid shot for the period, the subject’s stern expression belies his casual pose. An officer in the regular army of the United States, the crossed cannon insignia on the front of his headgear definitively places him with an artillery regiment. Given the relatively small number of men who held officer positions in the artillery in the decades before the Civil War, an identification seems quite possible.

This image’s former owner, well-regarded author and historian Bill Turner, firmly believed the subject to be Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Jackson needs no introduction as one of the most iconic military personalities in American history. Certain circumstances do align - Jackson held the same rank in the same branch of service as the man pictured here, his sideburns resemble those worn by Jackson in the years prior to the Civil War, and, of course, the blazing blue eyes are on point. While certainly not definitive, it is a tantalizing possibility. We encourage comparison to the contemporaneous sixth plate daguerreotype portrait of Stonewall Jackson held at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG.77.57).

Identified as Jackson or not, it is an exceptional early portrait.

[Mexican War, Mexican-American War, Civil War, Union, Confederate, West Point, Militia, Generals, Historic Photography, Early Photography, Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, Tintype, Union Cases, Cased Images]