Item No. 6617262

A striking CDV portrait of Albert A. Irwin, shown here in uniform as a captain of the 2nd Arkansas (Union) Cavalry. The mount bears the imprint of “Richardson, Photographer, cor. 4th & So 6th Sts, Williamsburgh” (Brooklyn, New York). The image is identified on the mount in period ink as “Capt. A. A. Irwin,” while the reverse carries a lengthy contemporary inscription giving his full name, dates of birth and death (July 1834 – May 24, 1880), and an outline of his military career. The image was part of a family album assembled by his brother Bernard J. D. Irwin, the noted army surgeon, naturalist, and Medal of Honor recipient. The image measures approximately 2 1/2” x 4”.

Albert A. Irwin served during the Civil War as a captain in the 2nd Arkansas Cavalry, a Union regiment recruited from loyalist elements in the Trans-Mississippi. Following the war, according to the inscription, he pursued an unusually varied military career, serving as a captain in the army of Maximilian I of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico, and later with the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War. He died at Rincon, Mexico, in 1880.