Description
Bust portrait identified as George B. Carse of the 40th New York Infantry. Commissioned a 2nd lieutenant with “C” Company in June, 1861, he would receive a promotion to 1st lieutenant in October of that year. George and the men of the 40th New York would be heavily engaged throughout the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. From March until December of that year, they would fight in no less than 12 major engagements. The following spring, during the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2nd, Carse was credited with reforming “a shattered and retreating line.” Gravely wounded in the right leg during the battle and left on the field, fellow soldier, sergeant Robert Boody saved Carse’s life after returning the battlefield under fire and carrying him off the field. Boody was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in saving George’s life. During Carse’s convalescence, General Joseph Hooker personally wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln commending his heroism which resulted in a battlefield commission to captain. He would however be discharged in December of that year for the wound he received during the battle. After the Civil War, Carse was sent to Florida to work in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands where he administered contracts between former slaves and white planters. His job was to obtain justice for Blacks during Reconstruction. In that role, Carse also became involved in politics, instructing Blacks on their opportunity to vote. He became Adjutant General under Florida’s new Republican governor, Harrison Reed. During an internal Republican struggle between Reed and Lt. Gov. William Gleason, Carse caught Gleason trying to remove papers from the governor’s safe. He took out his revolver, pointed it at Gleason’s head, and forced the Lt. Governor out of the office. A similar incident with a revolver happened again when Carse found out that Secretary of State George Alden had also removed some documents form Reed’s office. That caused U.S. Senator Thomas Obsorn to seek Carse’s removal. Carse was indicted on charges of attempted murder after Alden filed a complaint, but the charges were dropped after Reed prevailed in the Florida GOP and removed Gleason and Alden. Back marked out of Philadelphia, this example bears a period ink signature across the front bottom reading, “Yours Truly G. B. Carse”.
