Sketch
artists during the American Civil War had no shortage of subject
matter. Unlike their photographer counterparts, they could go any
where at any time, and quite often did. Night time scenes are often
depicted as are battle scenes, camp life and typical soldier
portraits. They could convey a sense of urgency in their drawings
that a photographer could only dream of. Some of the following
sketches are hastily done “first drafts”. They would later appear
in Harper's Weekly, Frank Leslie's Illustrated News, or
The New York Illustrated.
As will be seen in the first example, the sketch artist, :
“If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our dooryards and along the streets, he has done something very like it.” [1]
The
above sketch is by Arthur Lumley.**
after the Battle of Fredericksburg. He notes on the back that these
pickets wore Federal overcoats “over the secessh” and had not
been buried “up to Sunday”, a day after the battle. Waud does not
say exactly which pontoon bridge is seen in the right background but
that these men were killed while the Federals were building it. It is
quite possible it is the Middle Bridge leading directly into town.
Camp
Las Moras, CSA, March 1861 drawn
by Carl G. von Iwonski, shows camp life early in the war. The
description states that it is the first illustration received by
Harper's Weekly. It is near Fort Clark, Texas and shows many of the
men are Mexicans.
Ellsworth's
Chicago Zouaves- 1861 drawn by
Waud. This shows the zouaves going through one of their drills which
were said to have been quite strenuous and at the same time very
precise. Note the French Zouave uniform with kepi as opposed to
another zouave uniform:
A
Zouave Sentry also sketched by
Waud. This one appears to be intended for a painting or color print
to be rendered at a later time. Note the color coding for each piece
of the uniform written on the drawing. Also note the turban. Zouaves
liked standing out in a crowd, even among other Zouaves!
Another
drawing for those interested in common soldiers:
This
was drawn by Edwin Forbes, “Rebel prisoners and battle flags
captured at Chancellorsville”. It does show the sundry
types of headgear worn by the Confederate soldier, and
does lend itself to the “ragged rebel” theme. Note the patches on
the breeches of the man in the front rank, left side, and the man
behind him has a patch on his coat. This also is a highly
romanticized drawing. Note the Confederate battle flags waving in the
breeze. It is unlikely the cavalry troopers would have had them
unfurled even far behind the fighting. Imagine the reaction in the
rear if a body of enemy soldiers, with flags flying, suddenly
appeared in their midst! It has to be the Black Horse !
Not a likely scenario, but artistic license can be forgiven. The men
at the lower left are making coffee. It is strange that this group
appears smaller in scale when compared to the prisoners even though
they are in the foreground.
An
Officer Directing His Troops Into Battle. This
is by John R. Chapin and depicts an unknown battle somewhere and
illustrates the use of the artists friend, Chinese White,
when smoke or clouds were
present. It is a well constructed piece, showing the viewer
everything the artist wants you to see without getting too crowded.
It appears that a later print by Kurz & Allison may
have been somewhat inspired by
this piece. The Battle of Gettysburg
was printed by them in 1884.
Notice
the resemblance of the mounted officer, same pose only pointing with
his sword. Also look at the right corner with men carrying a wounded
comrade and what appears to be other wounded soldiers and prisoners.
There are other similarities between the two. This print looks like
the first on a much grander scale.
The
sketch artists left us a visual record of events during the war. Some
were soldiers themselves. Many drawings never left the artists sketch
book to be seen by millions in the newspapers of the time or in later
books on the war. They were talented and brave individuals
that
often shared the privations of camp, battlefield, and hospital with
their subjects. No one escaped their gaze as officers, privates,
contraband’s, sutlers and citizens were sketched. Even after the
advent of photography, the sketch artist was in high demand and still
still reigned supreme in the newspapers and magazines during and
after the war.
The Picket
Sources
1-
New York Times, October 20, 1862 Brady's
Photographs:Pictures of the Dead at Antietam, from
http://www.nytimes.com/1862/10/20/news/brady-s-photographs-pictures-of-the-dead-at-antietam.html?scp=84&sq=matthew+brady&st=p
**“Rebel
Pickets, Dead in Fredericksburg” The LOC lists this drawing as
being rendered by A.R. Waud but also directs you to it from a search
of Arthur Lumley. It is hard to say who drew it.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/drwg/item/2004660776/
Camp
Las Moras C.S.A.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/drwg/item/2004661291/
Ellsworths
Chicago Zouaves- 1861
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/drwg/item/2004660036/
A
Zouave Sentry
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/drwg/item/2004660895/
Rebel
Prisoners and battle flags captured at Chancellorsville,
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004661818/
An Officer directing his troops
into battle.
Battle
of Gettysburg, Kurz &Allison,
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003656853/
No comments:
Post a Comment