Seated three-quarter length albumen oval CDV of C.S.A. General Joseph E. Johnston. Unmarked. Faintly twice stamped "14919". INSCRIBED BY JOHNSTON TO LONGSTREET to mount verso: "Genl. Longstreet from J.E. Johnston."

A remarkable carte de visite photograph of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, inscribed by Johnston to his friend and fellow general, James Longstreet. Johnston rose to prominence as a United States Army officer who served with distinction in both the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars. The native Virginian’s vast experience made him a natural fit as one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army. A West Point classmate of Robert E. Lee, Johnston was well-respected by both his troops and officers on both sides, although victory seemed to elude him. Seriously wounded at Seven Pines, he was ultimately replaced by Lee and spent the remainder of the War commanding troops in the West and North Carolina.

“I do not think we had his equal for handling an army,” wrote Gen. James Longstreet, the man to whom Johnson presented this photograph. Longstreet of course would make his name as another key Southern military leader. Lee himself called him his “Old War Horse.” Longstreet and Johnston crossed paths several times during the War, perhaps most famously following the Battle of Gettysburg, when Longstreet requested that Lee transfer him to the west to serve under Johnston.

The context for the presentation of this photograph from one General to another is unclear, but this particular portrait of Johnson dates to the beginning of the Civil War and its CDV mount appears period, making a wartime transfer quite possible. Regardless, it is without doubt that this very photograph of Johnston was given by the man himself as a gift to Longstreet.

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