Extremely rare carte de visite titled Illustrations of Chivalry, depicting Union soldier John D. Rose of the 8th Kentucky Infantry in a state of near-total emaciation, photographed four days after his parole from the notorious Confederate prison camp on Belle Isle. Captured in Annapolis, Maryland, the haunting image reveals the physical devastation endured by Rose and hundreds of others who survived starvation, exposure, and deprivation in Confederate captivity.

The verso includes a harrowing account excerpted from the Rochester Democrat, describing the arrival of paroled prisoners at the Annapolis wharf, where many died shortly after rescue. Quoting relief worker Dorothea Dix and recounting systematic starvation, the narrative offers context for the photograph’s use as powerful wartime propaganda. Many survivors reportedly suffered amputations, lasting disabilities, or mental trauma, with Rose’s image serving as damning visual testimony to the Confederacy’s treatment of prisoners of war.

Published by Wenderoth & Taylor of Philadelphia, this photograph stands among the most graphic and emotionally resonant documents of Civil War imprisonment. Few surviving images so clearly communicate the suffering and long-term damage inflicted in Confederate camps. Examples bearing full imprint and period text remain exceptionally scarce and historically significant.