Carte De Viste Potrait Of Major Pauline Cushman [Civil War]

BRADY, MATTHEW [PHOTOGRAPHER]

Other works by BRADY, MATTHEW

Publication: E & H T Anthony, 1863-1865, New York

Albumen print carte de visite of the most famous female spy of the Civil War, approximately 2 1/8" x 3 1/4" (trimmed from standard 2 1/2" x 4" format), mounted on card stock with printed caption and Anthony's studio imprint on verso. Embossed medallions visible at lower corners despite trimming. Image exhibits spotting and surface oxidation characteristic of albumen process deterioration, with minor abrasions to emulsion layer. Housed in protective paper display sleeve measuring 2 1/2" x 3 7/8."

Pauline Cushman (née Harriet Wood, 1833-1893), was a Union intelligence operative whose career illustrates the convergence of theatrical performance, military espionage, and nineteenth-century public celebrity. Born in New Orleans to a Spanish mother and French father, Cushman relocated to Michigan during childhood before establishing herself as a professional actress in New York, performing under the stage name acquired through her marriage to musician Charles Cushman.

Cushman's intelligence work began in Louisville in 1863 when Confederate officers attending her performance challenged her to publicly toast Jefferson Davis. Coordinating with Union authorities, she used this incident to establish credibility as a Confederate sympathizer while conducting reconnaissance throughout Tennessee and Kentucky. Her theatrical training provided operational cover for intelligence gathering on troop movements, fortifications, and supply networks. Her capture in Tennessee in 1863 while carrying maps, battle plans, and military correspondence resulted in a death sentence for espionage. Her execution was prevented by deteriorating health during imprisonment and the advance of Union forces under General William Rosecrans, who occupied Shelbyville. President Lincoln subsequently awarded her an honorary major's commission, documenting her service within official military records.

Following her military service, Cushman conducted lecture tours throughout the United States, selling cartes de visite such as this as supplementary income. Her presentations, delivered in military uniform, addressed public interest in female military participation while contributing to post-war narratives of Union victory. The publication of "The Life of Pauline Cushman" (1865) provided additional documentation of her wartime activities, though her subsequent years were marked by laudanum addiction, financial instability, and social marginalization, ending with her death in San Francisco in 1893. E. & H.T. Anthony was the largest American publisher of cartes de visite during the Civil War era, and their imprint confirms this as a period production intended for commercial sale during Cushman's lecture tours.

Inventory Number: 54436