Grant’s victories at Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862 provided some much needed good news for the Union cause and created a national market for images of the new hero. Commercial photographers made use of out-of-date portraits and lithographs that bore only a passing resemblance the purported subject. One popular early image was later said to have been a bearded stand-in who was deemed close-enough. That changed he amassed victories and collectors now regard him as perhaps the most photographed person of the nineteenth century.

This half-length seated view has good tones and clarity, particularly of the face and hands, and conveys something of his determination never to turn back. Grant wears the uniform and shoulder straps of a major general, a rank he received after Henry and Donelson as “major general of volunteers.” The rank was extended to the regular army after he took Vicksburg in July 1863, and he held it until March 1864, when he was made lieutenant general and general of the armies.

The card is in excellent condition. There is no backmark. Given Grant’s new rank in March 1864 the image would date before that, and it is appropriate that it bears no tax stamp, a legal requirement introduced in early fall 1864. [SR]

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