(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Mealy, E.W.; photographer. Signed carte-de-visite of a multiracial sergeant in the United States Colored Troops. Albumen photograph, 3 1/2 x 2 inches, on original mount with photographer's backmark on verso; minor wear; inscribed on verso "Yours truly, G.V.R. David, 1st Sergt Co. A, 73 USCI," with revenue stamp and additional inked stamp reading "G.V.R. David." New Orleans, LA, [1865]
Gerard Victor Rachal David (circa 1840-1914) enlisted in the 73rd United States Colored Troops under the alias Belisaire David, according to his 1902 pension application. He appears as Sergeant Belisaire David on the rolls of the 73rd United States Colored Troops, but generally went by the name Victor in civilian life. He was variously described in census and other records as white, mulatto, or black. He may even be the Belisaire David who had previously served in a Louisiana guard unit for the Confederates. He was born circa 1840, lived with his well-off planter father Hypolite in St. Landry Parish for the 1850 census. He survived the war, and was farming in Natchitoches in 1900 and 1910; his widow applied for pension benefits in 1914.
