Item No. 5235601

A CDV portrait of Henry Lye, who served in the Wisconsin company (G) of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters from 1861-63. Lye was mortally wounded July 2, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg and died the next day. He is buried at the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg. In the image, Lye poses in his recently issued green sharpshooter frock coat and forage cap. A leather gauntlet covers his hand while a single-shot boot pistol is tucked into his belt. In an unusual configuration, the carte was trimmed down to about 2 3/8” x 1 3/4” and placed under a glass and keeper intended for a ninth plate tintype photograph. There is no photographer’s imprint on the back of the carte, although the image was determined to date from late 1861 or early 1862 from Washington DC.

The image appears in the article, “A Wisconsin Sharpshooter’s Changing Face,” published in the Winter 2026 issue of Military Images (p. 41).