Vignetted bust-length albumen CDV portrait of Colonel Patrick Emmet Burke. Corinth, Mississippi: Armstead & White, n.d. Photographer's imprint to mount verso. INSCRIBED BY BURKE in ink to mount verso: "P.E. Burke / Col Western Sharpshooters / 66th Ills Vols."

Wonderful, inscribed carte de visite (CDV) photograph of the mortally wounded Colonel of the Western Sharpshooters, Irish-born Patrick Emmet Burke (ca 1830-20 May 1864). In July 1862, Burke took command of the 66th Illinois Infantry, better known as Birge’s Western Sharpshooters, at Corinth, Mississippi. The regiment had a mixed reputation for hard fighting and indiscipline, but Burke succeeded in professionalizing the unique multi-state regiment.

Burke, who eventually commanded a brigade that included his Sharpshooters, was quite active during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. In May 1864, he sustained a serious wound during a smaller conflict known as the Battle of Rome Cross Roads. Doctors amputated his leg in an attempt to save him, but he later contracted gangrene and died. Burke's body was returned to his pre-war home of St. Louis, where it rests today. This CDV, which was produced in Corinth, was boldly signed by Burke with both his name and regimental designation. It was likely made and signed shortly after he took command of Birge’s Western Sharpshooters.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Historic Photography, Early Photography, CDV, Carte de Visite, Carte-de-Visite, Albumen, Signatures]