American Historical Ephemera & Photography

8 7/8 x 6 3/4 in. albumen photograph on original mount, with Plate No. 23 and title printed in lower margin (very good tonality, toning to print and mount, light staining to margins). Alexander Gardner's Washington, DC, imprint and 1866 date also printed on mount below image.

An iconic view of President Lincoln visiting General McClellan and staff shortly after the bloody battle at Antietam, the second of two famous group shots photographed by Alexander Gardner on 3 October 1862. This view was taken at General Fitz-John Porter’s nearby headquarters following Lincoln’s review of 5th Corps troops and includes (from left): Col. Delos B. Sackett, Capt. Geo. Monteith, Lt. Col. Nelson B. Sweitzer, Gen. Geo. W. Morell, Col. Alexander S. Webb, Gen. McClellan, Scout Adams, Dr. Jonathan Letterman, unidentified officer, President Lincoln, Col. Henry J. Hunt, Gen. Fitz-John Porter, unidentified officer, Col. Frederick T. Locke, Gen. Andrew A. Humphreys, and an unknown Capt. Geo. A. Custer. The photograph was published after the war as Plate No. 23 in Gardner’s large format Photographic Sketch Book of the War. Gardner refers to a wartime duplicate of this shot "available only as a gallery card" as catalog No. 606.

Provenance: The Lloyd Ostendorf Collection of Lincolniana; Bonhams & Butterfields (consignor notes).