Description
Bust portrait carte view identified as Captain David Watt of the 74th New York Infantry. Originally organized as the Fifth Regiment of Sickles’ Excelsior Brigade, Watt would muster as a 1st sergeant in October, 1861. He would be promoted to second lieutenant the following year and twice promoted in 1863, to 1st lieutenant and then to his final rank as captain in August, 1863. The regiment fought with the Army of the Potomac across the Eastern Theater, including the Siege of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, and the Seven Days Battles. They would see additional action during the Battle of 2nd Bull Run before heading into Gettysburg. There they would fight fiercely on July 2–3, 1863, near the Emmitsburg Road and the Peach Orchard as part of the III Corps. During the Overland Campaign, they would fight through the Battle of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg through mid-1864. David would survive the fighting and be discharged in March, 1863. This example bears a faint period pencil id across the front reading, “Capt. Watt 5th Vols”. Back marked out of Philadelphia.
