1864 ULYSSES S. GRANT. Important, Undocumented Carte de Visite when Promoted to General.

A very scarce carte de visite of then-Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, issued perhaps on the occasion of his promotion.

Though we trace no other examples of this image or issuance of the image, it is dateable within a narrow time frame. Grant had previously been Command, then Major General. However, after the decisive victory at Chattanooga, Abraham Lincoln promoted him to a post held only two other times in American history, Lieutenant General, i.e. the General in Chief. The first time by George Washington, and the second by Winfield Scott. It essentially gave him command of the entire Union Army. This was awarded him in March of 1864. This rank was in force until he became the first four-star general in American history in July of 1866. This places the image almost certainly between the dates of March of 1864 and July of 1866. Images with this rank are rare. 

The image resembles several variants from the time and was likely executed as a pure lithograph rather than as an over-lithographed or colored photograph. It seems to match no one image precisely, so is perhaps from a separate sitting, an unknown image, or was a bit of a pastiche. 

Image in very good condition; printed separately and laid to the rank / name lithographed sheet. Paper unusually thin for a CDV. It is no wonder we trace no other examples.