Portrait of 2nd Lieutenant Leander W. Ferguson, 5th Michigan Cavalry, Company D, 1864

Soldiers fighting in the Civil War often had their photographic portraits made and mailed them to family and friends back home. This carte-de-visite shows 2nd Lieutenant Leander W. Ferguson, 5th Michigan Cavalry, Company D. He is wearing his officer's frock coat and vest and holding his hat. The handwriting on the front of this carte-de-visite reads: "L. W. Furgison, 5th Mich Cav".

Leander W. Ferguson (alternate spelling Furgison) enlisted on August 16, 1862 as a Sergeant in the 5th Michigan Cavalry, Company D, and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on March 5, 1864, and then 1st Lieutenant on August 24, 1864. He mustered out as a 1st Lieutenant on June 22, 1865. The 5th Michigan Cavalry was under the command of General George A. Custer and fought at the battles of Gettysburg, Wilderness, and Appomattox Court House. Ferguson died on April 11, 1878 and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Northville, Michigan.

Mathew B. Brady's photography studio in Washington, D.C., made this full-length standing portrait in 1864. A successful photographer since 1841, Brady owned studios in Washington and New York City and became renowned for portraits of notable personalities of the time. Starting in 1861 he had the ambitious goal of documenting all aspects of the Civil War. To do this he hired many photographers to work in his studios and in the field to capture images of battles, life on the front, and important military figures. As was the custom, Brady did not identify individual photographers working for his company. However, many went on to become successful photographers in their own right, such as Alexander Gardner and Timothy O'Sullivan. Brady's vision and longevity created photographs that are meaningful records of this important time in United States history.

Carte-de-visite, French for visiting card, was a type of small photographic print on cardboard stock that professional photographers made in the nineteenth century. Popularized by the French photographer, André Disdéri in 1854, this format measured about 4 x 2.5 inches--the same size as personal calling cards of that era. Photographers made a single glass negative and then produced multiple positive prints on paper and mounted them on the cards. The backs often carried advertisements for the photographer. When mailed in the United States between 1864 and 1866, the CdVs had a tax stamp on the back. This was a source of Federal government revenue to pay for the Civil War expenses. Popular in the United States from the 1860s through the 1880s, photographers continued to offer this size into the early 1900s. After having their portraits taken at the photographer's studio, people exchanged them among family and friends. As a favorite hobby, many people gathered CdVs into photograph albums to help them remember family and celebrities.