Signed CDV of Major Joseph Melvin Wiswell, 14th Maine Infantry – Boston Backmark

Signed CDV of Major Joseph Melvin Wiswell, 14th Maine Infantry – Boston Backmark
 
Joseph Melvin Wiswell, a 19-year-old railroad clerk from Searsport, Maine, enlisted on June 15, 1861, and mustered into Company I, 4th Maine Infantry, as a Sergeant. He was wounded in action at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) on July 21, 1861. Wiswell was discharged for promotion on November 30, 1861, and commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant into Company G, 14th Maine Volunteer Infantry, on December 28, 1861.
 
He rose steadily through the ranks, being promoted to 1st Lieutenant on July 1, 1862, and to Captain (Company D) on January 1, 1863. After mustering out with the 14th Maine on January 13, 1865, at Augusta, Maine, he was recommissioned as 1st Lieutenant of Company F on February 28, 1865, and quickly promoted to Major on March 24, 1865. He was finally mustered out on August 28, 1865, at Darien, Georgia.
This signed carte-de-visite (CDV) of Joseph Melvin Wiswell features a clear period signature and a desirable Boston photographer’s backmark. The image shows Wiswell in uniform, likely as a captain or field officer. While the top right corner of the mount has significant damage, the photographic image itself remains fully intact and unaffected.
 
Wiswell’s long and distinguished service spanned from the early fighting in Virginia with the 4th Maine through nearly the entire war with the 14th Maine Infantry, which saw heavy action in Louisiana and the Gulf Department before later service in the Carolinas and Georgia.
 
The combination of a signed CDV, detailed promotion record, combat wound at Bull Run, and service in two Maine regiments makes this a strong, well-documented portrait for collectors of Maine Civil War officers or Union infantry photography.