Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47091

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47091

Large Hand-Tinted Albumen of George A. Custer and Leroy S. Elbert. 10 1/8 x 13 1/8 inches, mounted to a larger sheet of cardstock and framed in a late 19th-century frame, original to the albumen, to an overall size of 16 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches. This portrait is identified by D. Mark Katz in Custer in Photographs (1990) as originating from a sitting taken by Henry Ulke in Washington, D.C., in April 1863. In its original frame as passed down from Libbie to her niece May Custer Elmer.

Shown at left is Leroy S. Elbert, who had just been promoted to captain in the 3rd U.S. Cavalry on March 11, 1863, and was immediately ordered west to join his regiment. Tragically, his service was brief. Six months later, in September 1863, he died of typhoid fever aboard the steamboat City of Alton. To his right is Custer, then a young cavalry officer rapidly rising through the ranks of the Army. Within weeks of this sitting he would be promoted to brigadier general of volunteers, becoming one of the youngest generals in the Union Army at age twenty-three.

Condition: Lightly toned with a few very minor stains. Cardstock mount moderately toned with some foxing. Frame with wear commensurate with age, including minor scuffs or scratches.

Reference: Katz, D. Mark. Custer in Photographs. New York: Bonanza Books, 1990, p. 10.

Provenance: Presented by Elizabeth Bacon Custer to May Custer Elmer; thence by descent and inheritance to our consignor.

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