(1821-75) The son of an advisor to presidents and the brother of Montgomery Blair, Abraham Lincoln's first postmaster general. From secession to reconstruction, Francis P. Blair, Jr. made a series of major contributions to the Union cause. No man did more to block Missouri's joining the Confederacy in 1861; as a U.S. Congressman he battled for Lincoln's early war programs; he was a distinguished divisional and corps commander in the Vicksburg and Atlanta campaigns; and as a post war senator battled the Radical Republicans in an attempt to bring reconstruction to a shattered nation. Blair also saw service during the Civil War in the Yazoo expedition, at Chattanooga, Sherman's March to the Sea and the Carolina's campaign. Both Grant and Sherman who were highly critical of most "political generals" rated Blair as one of the most competent military leaders of the war.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 1/2 x 4 1/8 card. Half view in civilian attire. Imprint on the front mount: "Gen. Frank P. Blair." Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by J. Gurney & Son, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. Backmark: J. Gurney & Son, 707 Broadway, N.Y. Very sharp image. Excellent condition.