This exceptional CDV portrait depicts two members of the United States Signal Corps, identified as Alphonso Lewis, an officer, and George L. Haley, a private. Both men served in the Signal Corps, a specialized branch responsible for battlefield communications using flags by day and torches by night.  Lewis and Haley are outfitted in standard cavalry-style shell jackets with distinctive Signal Corps cross-flag insignia visible on a sleeve. Both men wear slouch hats and are armed with cavalry sabers, reflecting the mounted status often afforded to signal parties in the field. Most significantly, one man holds a large signal flag on a jointed staff, the primary tool of their trade. The 1-cent proprietary revenue stamp on the reverse dates the image’s sale to the late-war period (1864–1865), consistent with the Union's administrative presence in occupied New Orleans.  The Signal Corps was a small, elite branch whose members often operated in exposed positions to maintain lines of communication. New Orleans served as the headquarters for the Department of the Gulf, making it a central hub for signal operations monitoring Confederate movements along the Mississippi and the coast. This image is a striking visual artifact of that specialized service.  First actual Signal Corps Flag in CDV form I have ever seen.