1/9th Ambrotype of Union Brevet Brigadier General John A. Hough

Ninth plate hand-tinted and gilt tintype. Patriotic brass mat and full thermoplastic case. 
 
Chest-up view identified as Union Brevet Brigadier General John A. Hough (1835-1891). The contrast is dark, but the photograph is enhanced by the presence of gold gilding to his buttons and pink tinting to his cheeks. This image is a mirrored version of a circulated photograph of Hough; perhaps the former was taken after the negative of the latter. 
 
John Hough participated in many of the War's major battles, including those of Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, Shiloh, and Vicksburg, whilst serving with the 17th Illinois Infantry, the 77th Illinois Infantry, and as an adjutant general under General Andrew Jackson Smith (1815 - 1897). He was brevetted in March 1865 and mustered out in November with the rank of Brigadier General. A keen-eyed observer may spot the single star of a Brigadier General on Hough's shoulder, made clearer in other iterations of this photograph, which suggests that this view was taken after his promotion.