A bearded young soldier stands at full length in this albumen CDV, his posture relaxed but deliberate, captured most likely during the Civil War years of the early 1860s. He wears a double-breasted military frock coat over a darker uniform jacket with visible button rows, and holds a kepi-style cap loosely at his side. The reverse imprint identifies the photographer as operating in Owego, New York, though the first portion of the studio name is partially obscured by damage to the mount.

The subject rests his left hand on the carved finial of a tufted parlor chair, a common studio prop of the period, while his right hand holds the cap at hip level. His expression is composed and direct, with a trimmed goatee and side-parted dark hair. Ankle-high leather brogans and light-colored trousers complete the figure from head to foot.

Owego, the county seat of Tioga County in the Southern Tier of New York, was home to several photographers during the Civil War era, and the town supplied men to multiple Union regiments throughout the conflict.

The reverse bears a partially legible imprint reading "J. [illegible], Photographer, Owego, N.Y." with damage obscuring the surname.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer