Signed CDV of Stephen Miles 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry Co. C "Declared Insane"

This signed carte de visite portrays Stephen Miles, a Union cavalryman from Bradford County, Pennsylvania, who served as a Private in Company C, 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry during the American Civil War. Miles enlisted on December 31, 1863, and on the same date mustered into active service with his regiment.
 
The 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry, also known as the Rush’s Lancers, served extensively in the Eastern Theater, participating in major campaigns and performing reconnaissance, screening, and combat operations vital to Union success. As a cavalry private, Miles would have been engaged in demanding and often dangerous service requiring horsemanship, endurance, and mobility.
 
The presence of Miles’s signature adds significant personal and historical value to the photograph, transforming it from a simple studio portrait into a tangible artifact of individual identity and service. Signed CDVs were commonly exchanged with family or comrades and often served as keepsakes during long separations caused by war.
 
Stephen Miles completed his term of service and was mustered out on August 23, 1865, after the conclusion of the war. This photograph stands as a lasting personal record of a Pennsylvania volunteer who served through the final years of the conflict and returned home at its end.
 
Steve Miles Strange Case:
 
One of the strangest eases ever heard of in this section of the country is that of Stephen Miles, an inmate of the insane department at the County Home. In Twenty-two months ago Miles became an inmate of the institution, and from that time until a few months ago, the man, although he had eaten three meals a day, had never allowed the food he ate or the liquor he drank to take their natural courses. He would never eat while anyone was watching him. But the moment he was left alone he would ravenously devour the food prepared for him, This he would retain in his stomach for about his mouth. This he continued to do for the full twenty-two months, until at the present time he is a mere skeleton, weighing about sixty pounds, his legs near. The hip being but little larger than a man's forearm.
 
Some days ago when one of the attendants visited the room of Miles, he was surprised to hear the fellow say: "Do you know when the last resurrection was? It was yesterday, to-day and tomorrow, and I have resurrected."