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Description: half-plate daguerreotype, modern seal, cased, 'Brady's Gallery, 205 & 359 Broadway, New York' stamped on the burgundy velvet lining, 1853-1857

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Dimensions: half-plate

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Notes: Lawrence Pike Graham (1815-1905) was a half-brother of James Duncan Graham. Educated by private tutors, he began his army career in 1837 with a commission as a second lieutenant in the 2^nd Dragoons.

From 1837 to 1842, Graham served in the Seminole War in Florida, where he was promoted to first lieutenant and then to captain. In the Mexican War, from 1845 to 1848, Graham was breveted major at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, where he charged and captured La Vega's battery. He also saw action with General Zachary Taylor at Matamoras, Monterey, and Buena Vista.

He was promoted to major in 1858, and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in August 1861 after the outbreak of the Civil War. In October, Graham was assigned a brigade that in March 1862 became part of the siege of Yorktown. Because of ill health, he was unable to continue in McClellan's peninsular campaign and, in June 1862, he became Chief of Cavalry at an Army school near Annapolis. He was subsequently appointed President of General Courts Martial in St. Louis and to the Board of Examination of Invalid Officers in Annapolis. During this period, in 1864, Graham was promoted to colonel of the 4^th Cavalry. The following year, he left the Volunteer Service as a brigadier general.

Graham retired from active service in 1870 at age 55, after which he became a distinguished Shakespearean scholar in Washington, D. C. Graham is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Mathew Brady moved his studio to 205 Broadway in 1847; in 1853 he opened a second studio at 359 Broadway and operated at both addresses until 1857; the portrait of Lawrence Pike Graham offered in this lot was taken some time during this interval. In 1857, Brady consolidated his business at the 359 Broadway address.