Item No. 8901320

A scarce CDV portrait of Charles Henry Crane, shown here in civilian attire rather than a military uniform. The son of Colonel Ichabod B. Crane, Charles Crane served as Surgeon General of the United States Army from 1882 to 1883, capping a long and significant medical career that began before the Civil War. A graduate of Yale and Harvard, he entered the Army Medical Department in 1848 and went on to serve throughout the Civil War as a senior medical officer, including as Assistant Surgeon General. Following the shooting of Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, Crane was among the high-ranking physicians summoned to the President’s bedside, where he acted in a supervisory and consultative capacity and later took part in the official post-mortem examination. He was brevetted brigadier general for his wartime service, retired shortly after his tenure as Surgeon General, and died in 1883. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The image was part of an album assembled by Colonel Bernard J. D. Irwin, the noted army surgeon, naturalist, and Medal of Honor recipient. There is no photographer’s imprint on the carte. On the reverse in pencil is written, “Crane.” Slightly trimmed to about 2 3/8” x 3 1/2”. Some abrasion to the albumen visible above Crane’s head.