Brother vs brother! His brother George was a General in the Confederate Army!

His son was killed with Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, at the battle of the Little Big Horn, in 1876

(1819-93) Born in Russellville, Kentucky, he was the son of United States Senator, and Governor of Kentucky John J. Crittenden, brother of Confederate General George B. Crittenden, and first cousin of Union General Thomas T. Crittenden. His son, John J. Crittenden III, served in the U.S. Army, and died with Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, and members of the 7th U.S. Cavalry, at the Battle of Little Bighorn, in 1876. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he enlisted and served as an aide to General Zachary Taylor, the father-in-law of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and as colonel of the 3rd Kentucky Infantry, 1847-48. He commanded the Kentucky state forces and held rank of major general at the outbreak of the Civil War. Kentucky was a state that declared its neutrality, and had men fighting for the North and the South. Thomas L. Crittenden, and his father remained loyal to the Union, while his brother George joined the Confederate Army, a common occurrence in the border states, thus was born the nickname, the war of brother vs brother! Commissioned a brigadier general in September 1861, he led a division of General Buell's army at the 1862 battle of Shiloh. He was promoted to major general on July 17, 1862, and commanded the II Corps in the Army of the Ohio during the Perryville, Ky. campaign. As one of General Rosecrans' principal commanders in the Army of the Cumberland, he was heavily engaged at the Battle of Stones River, and at the battles of Tullahoma, Tenn., and Chickamauga, Ga. In 1864, he saw action in the eastern theater at the battle of Spotsylvania and the battle of Cold Harbor, Va. After the war ended, Crittenden served as the State Treasurer of Kentucky, and was appointed as a colonel, and then brigadier general in the regular army before retiring in 1881. He was elected as a member of the Maryland Society of the Cincinnati in 1883. He was also a veteran companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He died in Staten Island, New York, in 1893, and is buried in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. 3/4 standing view wearing a double breasted frock coat with shoulder bars and rank of major general. He poses with one arm on a studio column while wearing a pair of leather gloves. Backmark: E. & H.T. Anthony, New York, made from a photographic negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery. There is a 2 cents George Washington, Internal Revenue tax stamp on the reverse. Light age toning and wear. Scarce.