Tobacco card portrait of bearded General Leonidas Polk in a gray uniform, with a soldier falling in battle beside him.

A Short History of General Leonidas Polk, from the Histories of Genera

A bearded man with gray hair wears a dark military coat with gold buttons and star insignia on the collar, shown in an oval portrait. Beside him, a soldier clutches a flag and falls on a smoky battlefield, while the card's caption and tobacco advertising frame the scene.

Look closer: Distant troops advancing through smoke on the battlefield behind the falling soldier.

Artist: W. Duke, Sons & Co.
Date: 1888
Medium: Commercial color lithograph
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Size: 838 × 1344 px

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Public domain · The Metropolitan Museum of Art releases this image under CC0 (latest date 1888).
Rights checked 2026-11-05 · tier A · as stated by the source: CC0 (The Met Open Access, isPublicDomain=true)

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick

19th century 1880s 1888 lithograph soldiers battlefield trade card military portrait vintage advertising civil war general tobacco card leonidas polk bearded man