CDV of Otis W. Pierce, Company H, 8th New York Cavalry – Period Ink Inscription

CDV of Otis W. Pierce, Company H, 8th New York Cavalry – Period Ink Inscription
 
Otis W. Pierce, age 19 at enlistment, joined the Union army on March 28, 1864, at Hartland, New York, and mustered into Company H, 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry as a Private the same day. He served with the regiment during the final year of the war but tragically died of disease on May 23, 1865, in Washington, D.C., shortly after the Confederate surrender.
 
This carte-de-visite (CDV) features a clear period ink inscription identifying the soldier, with an additional pencil inscription on the reverse. The portrait shows Pierce in regulation cavalry uniform, offering a direct and personal connection to this young New York trooper.
 
The 8th New York Cavalry was a hard-fighting regiment that participated in numerous major campaigns in the Eastern Theater, including the Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign. They earned a strong reputation as one of New York’s finest mounted units.
A well-identified CDV of a young cavalryman who did not survive the war, with solid provenance through the period inscriptions. Such identified portraits of soldiers who died of disease in the final months of the conflict are particularly poignant and desirable.