Rare CDV of Confederate Brigadier General Stephen Elliott Jr.

Rare Carte de Visite of Confederate Brigadier General Stephen Elliott Jr. Photographed by George S. Cook, Charleston, South Carolina
 
An exceptional and seldom-encountered carte de visite portrait of Brigadier General Stephen Elliott Jr., the heroic defender of Fort Sumter and commander at the Battle of the Crater. Executed by the renowned Confederate photographer George S. Cook, this image bears Cook’s distinctive Charleston backmark, confirming its wartime South Carolina origin.
 
The print exhibits outstanding tonal quality and sharp detail, with Elliott’s features rendered in crisp focus. The card retains its original square corners and is preserved under a light period varnish that enhances contrast while protecting the albumen surface. A highly important and well-preserved Confederate general’s portrait by one of the South’s most celebrated photographers. Very fine condition.
 
Stephen Elliott Jr. (October 26, 1830 – February 21, 1866) was a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War, renowned for his gallant defense of Fort Sumter and leadership in key engagements across South Carolina, Virginia, and North Carolina. Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, into a prominent planter family, he was the eldest son of Rev. Stephen Elliott, the first Episcopal bishop of Georgia, and Ann Hutson Habersham; his grandfather was the noted naturalist Stephen Elliott. Elliott briefly attended Harvard College before graduating from South Carolina College in 1850, after which he became a successful cotton planter on Parris Island, a skilled fisherman and yachtsman, and a member of the South Carolina legislature. In 1854, he married Charlotte Stuart, with whom he had three children.
 
At the war's outset, Elliott served as captain of the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery militia and attached himself to units bombarding Fort Sumter in April 1861. He officially entered Confederate service as a captain in the 11th South Carolina Infantry, defending Port Royal Sound and suffering a leg wound at Fort Beauregard on November 7, 1861. Rising to major and then lieutenant colonel of artillery, he conducted daring raids against Union forces on coastal islands, sinking the steamer George Washington in April 1863. In September 1863, General P.G.T. Beauregard appointed him commander of Fort Sumter amid relentless Union bombardment; Elliott's defenses repulsed a nighttime amphibious assault on September 8, inflicting 127 Union casualties with none sustained by Confederates, earning praise for his "dauntless conduct and imperturbable coolness." He sustained a head wound there in December 1863.
 
Transferred to Petersburg, Virginia, in spring 1864 commanding Holcombe's Legion, Elliott assumed Nathan G. Evans's brigade after its commander's capture and was promoted to brigadier general on May 24, 1864. His brigade counterattacked Union forces on June 16, 1864, and defended "Elliott's Salient" during the Battle of the Crater on July 30, where a massive mine explosion killed or wounded nearly 700 of his men; awakened in a bombproof shelter, Elliott led a countercharge but was gravely wounded in the chest and arm. After partial recovery, he joined General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, fighting at Averasboro and Bentonville in March 1865, where he was again severely wounded by shrapnel in the leg while rallying his troops. His brigade surrendered at Bennett Place in April 1865, though Elliott had been sent home to recuperate.
 
Postwar, Elliott's plantation was seized and redistributed to former slaves; he returned to Charleston, resumed fishing for a livelihood, and was reelected to the legislature but died on February 21, 1866, in Aiken, South Carolina, at age 35, from the cumulative effects of his wounds and exposure. Buried in St. Helena's Episcopal Churchyard in Beaufort, he is remembered as a heroic figure whose courage earned commendations from Generals Beauregard, Robert E. Lee, and even Union adversaries, who saluted his Fort Sumter defense.