[Sergeant, 7th New York State Militia]

The dashing young man with noble bearing portrayed in this daguerreotype was a sergeant in the 7th New York Militia, sometimes called the “silk stocking regiment” because it included so many members of New York’s social elite. The hand-colored gold buttons and insignia of his jacket add flash alongside his snow-white sashes and gloves, all remarkably detailed and beautifully rendered by the daguerreotype process. The earliest type of photography, daguerreotypes are one-of-a-kind images made directly in the camera on silver-plated sheets of copper.