Original 1860s Carte de Visite of General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia
Original Civil War-era CDV portrait of Robert Edward Lee (1807–1870), with the printed caption "GENERAL R. E. LEE." beneath the image inside a ruled double-line border. Lee is shown bust-length in his gray uniform coat with three stars on the collar.
The three stars: Confederate regulations gave generals three stars inside a gold wreath. Lee wore the three stars of a colonel without the wreath, and he is shown that way in his wartime portraits. Collectors often point to this detail.
Cards like this were produced by photographing an engraved or painted portrait and mounting the prints on card stock. Lee's likeness was among the best-selling portraits of the 1860s, bought to fill family photograph albums in the South and in the North.
About Robert E. Lee
- West Point, Class of 1829. He graduated second in his class without a single demerit and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers.
- Mexican War. As an engineer on Gen. Winfield Scott's staff, his reconnaissance work at Cerro Gordo and in the advance on Mexico City earned three brevets. Scott later called him the finest soldier he had ever seen.
- Superintendent of West Point, 1852–1855.
- Harpers Ferry, 1859. He commanded the detachment of U.S. Marines that captured John Brown at the federal armory.
- April 1861. He declined command of the Union field army and resigned his U.S. commission when Virginia seceded, writing that he could not raise his hand against his native state.
- Army of Northern Virginia. He took command on June 1, 1862, after Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines. He drove McClellan from Richmond in the Seven Days, then won at Second Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and fought at Antietam and Gettysburg.
- 1864–65. He fought Grant through the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and the ten-month siege of Petersburg. He was named General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies in February 1865.
- Appomattox. He surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.
- After the war he served as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, now Washington and Lee University, until his death on October 12, 1870.
Description & Condition
- Standard CDV mount with clipped top corners, typical of the 1860s.
- Printed caption with ruled double-line border on the mount.
- Reverse is blank, with no photographer's or publisher's imprint.
- Toning and light foxing. Small surface losses at the lower center of the image just above the caption. Light corner and edge wear. A darker smudge at the lower center of the reverse. See scans; the scans are of the actual item.
Free shipping, packed flat in a sleeve with stiff board support.
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