Cabinet card portrait showing a bearded Union soldier seated on a studio prop rock while reading a letter. The soldier wears a dark military uniform with shoulder straps and a campaign hat, and a medal is pinned to the front of his tunic. A sword with tasseled knot rests at his side as he studies the paper in his hand.

The mount is imprinted H. C. Bailey, State Block, Cor. Main & School Sts., Concord, N.H. The reverse bears faint pencil writing including the date 1886 and the name “C. B. Richardson.” The portrait was likely made after the Civil War during the veteran years when former soldiers frequently sat for commemorative portraits wearing preserved uniforms or medals.

The photograph is mounted on a standard cabinet card mount with rounded corners. The seated pose, sword, and medal create a formal veteran portrait reflecting the continued public identity of Civil War soldiers during the late nineteenth century.