A rare and significant carte de visite portrait of Lieutenant H.S. Barney of the 117th United States Colored Troops, photographed by the prominent African American photographer J.P. Ball at his Cincinnati, Ohio, gallery. Barney stands in full Union officer's uniform, his kepi resting on a pedestal beside him, clearly displaying his shoulder boards and military bearing. The verso bears an ink inscription in a neat, period hand: “Compliments of Lieut. H.S. Barney, Co. C, 117th U.S.C.I., to Miss Clara Barney, Lake Station, Ind.”

The 117th USCT, organized in Kentucky in 1864, was composed of African American enlisted men under the command of white officers like Barney. It served primarily in garrison duty roles in the Western theater, including time in Tennessee and Arkansas. The photograph is further distinguished by its production at J.P. Ball’s elegant studio on West 4th Street in Cincinnati. Ball, one of the most accomplished Black daguerreotypists and early photographers in America, operated one of the most celebrated galleries of the 19th century, patronized by prominent abolitionists and dignitaries.

Portraits of officers from USCT regiments are rare, and those photographed by J.P. Ball are especially sought after. This example, with a direct inscription identifying the sitter and regiment, offers a compelling link between African American photographic history and Civil War military history.