Civil War CDV Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston Killed at Shiloh For Sale

Original 1860s Carte de Visite of General Albert Sidney Johnston, C.S.A. – Killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862

Original Civil War-era CDV portrait of Albert Sidney Johnston (1803–1862), with the printed caption "General A. S. Johnston, C. S. A." beneath the image. He is shown bust-length in a high-collared, double-breasted military coat, with his distinctive swept-back hair and long mustache.

Cards like this were produced by photographing an engraved or painted portrait and mounting the prints on card stock for sale to the public. Johnston died in the first year of the war, so original period portraits of him turn up far less often than those of Lee or Jackson.

• West Point, Class of 1826. Jefferson Davis was a cadet there at the same time and became a lifelong friend and admirer.
• Texas. He enlisted as a private in the Texas army in 1836 and rose to become its senior general. He then served as Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas.
• U.S. Army. He fought in the Mexican War. In 1855 he became colonel of the elite 2nd U.S. Cavalry, whose officers included Robert E. Lee, William J. Hardee, George H. Thomas, Earl Van Dorn, Edmund Kirby Smith and John Bell Hood. He led the Utah Expedition of 1857–58 and was brevetted brigadier general.
• 1861. He resigned from the U.S. Army in California and crossed the desert to join the Confederacy. Davis made him a full general, second in seniority only to Samuel Cooper, and gave him the vast Western Department, from the Appalachians to the Indian Territory.
• Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The loss of both forts to Grant in February 1862 forced him to abandon Kentucky and Nashville. He gathered his scattered forces at Corinth, Mississippi.
• Shiloh. On the morning of April 6, 1862, he launched a surprise attack on Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, telling his officers, "Tonight we will water our horses in the Tennessee River." That afternoon, while leading the attack near the Peach Orchard, he was struck behind the right knee. The bullet cut an artery, and he bled to death within the hour.
• He was the highest-ranking officer on either side killed in action during the Civil War. Davis considered his death a turning point for the Confederacy in the West.

• Standard CDV mount with clipped top corners, typical of the 1860s.
• Printed caption on the lower margin of the mount.
• Reverse is blank, with no photographer's or publisher's imprint.
• The front is clean, with light even toning. The reverse has toning and scattered foxing spots. Light edge wear. See scans; the scans are of the actual item.

Free shipping, packed flat in a sleeve with stiff board support.