Historical Portrait

[Civil War veteran Abner Letts]

1900·Source: loc·View original ↗·Public Domain

Free to use. Public domain. No account needed.

Archive record

1 photograph : print ; sheet 14 x 10 cm, mount 17 x 11 cm (cabinet card format) | Photograph shows portrait of Union veteran Abner Letts of Co. G, 1st Michigan Cavalry Regiment wearing medal.

About this photograph

This cabinet card portrait shows Abner Letts, who served in Company G of the 1st Michigan Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War. The photograph was taken in 1900, thirty-five years after the war's end, and Letts wears a medal in the image.

The Grand Army of the Republic was the fraternal organisation of Union veterans, founded in 1866. Its members wore distinctive badges and uniforms to encampments and parades, which accounts for why many portraits from this period show elderly men in regalia rather than wartime dress.

The cabinet card format, measuring approximately 4 by 6 inches when mounted, was a popular size for portrait photography in the late nineteenth century. The photographer was C. W. Abels.

Photography had become widespread by the time of the Civil War, and soldiers on both sides commonly sat for portraits before leaving for service. Because exposure times ruled out action photographs, the visual record of the war consists mainly of portraits, camp scenes, and fortifications. This later portrait represents a different tradition, documenting veterans in their civilian years rather than capturing them as young soldiers.

Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.

About the format

Cabinet Cards

Rights & Attribution

Credit: Library of Congress

Reuse: Public domain. Free to download, print, edit and republish, commercially or otherwise. How rights work in this archive.

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