Famous Civil War Generals

-->
Confederate Generals
List of important Confederate (or Southern) Civil War Generals
Robert E. Lee
General Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and is considered the most successful confederate general. Learn more about Robert E. Lee
Stonewall Jackson
General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson fought brilliantly from First Bull Run to his death at the battle of Chancellorsville from friendly fire. Learn more about Stonewall Jackson
J.E.B. Stuart
General J.E.B. Stuart was a famous cavalry commander known for his reconnaissance. Read more about Jeb Stuart
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest was an innovative cavalry commander, and was the only General on either side who began as a private. Read more about Nathan Bedford Forrest
James Longstreet
General James Longstreet led the First Corps of the Army Of Northern Virginia is considered one of the most capable generals on either side. Read more about James Longstreet
Braxton Bragg
General Braxton Bragg led the Army Of Mississippi and Tennessee from Shiloh to Chattanooga. Read more about Braxton Bragg
George Pickett
General George Pickett is best remembered for his futile and bloody assault on Cemetery Ridge On Day 3 of the Battle of Gettysburg. Read more about George Pickett
Bloody Bill Anderson
William T. "Bloody Bill" Anderson started life as a brutal killer, leading pro-confederate units on attacks against Union forces. Read more about Bloody Bill Anderson
John Mosby
John S. Mosby was a Confederate Cavalry Commander known for his speed and elusiveness. Read more about John Mosby
P.G.T. Beauregard
Pierre Gustave Toutant (PGT) Beauregard was a Confederate General best known for starting the civil war with his attack on Fort Sumter. Read more about P.G.T. Beauregard
A.P. Hill
A.P. Hill was a confederate General best known for commanding the "Light Division," and fighting ably with his commander Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Read more about A.P. Hill
Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith commanded armies in Tennessee and the Trans-Mississippi Theaters. Read more about Kirby Smith
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood (1831-1879) was reputed for his aggressive and bold commands, a reputation which continued in battles despite his physical disabilities. Read more about John Bell Hood
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston fought and battled in five wars. He was mortally wounded at age 59 during the civil war at the Battle of Shiloh. Read more about Albert Sidney Johnston
Barnard Bee
Barnard Elliot Bee Jr. died at age 37 in action at First Bull Run and is known for giving the nickname "Stonewall" to Brigadier general Thomas J. Jackson. Read more about Barnard Bee
Joseph Johnston
General Joseph Johnston was the highest ranking officer to leave the U.S. army to join the Confederacy. He fought in many of the Civil War’s major battles and died of pheumonia. Read more about Joseph Johnston
Jubal Early
Jubal Anderson Early was known for his aggressive and sometimes reckless style. Read more aboutJubal Early
Lewis Armistead
Lewis Addison was a successful Confederate General who fought and died during Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Read more about Lewis Armistead
Porter Alexander
Edward Porter Alexander was a Brigadier General known for being the first man to use signal flags to send messages using signal flags. Read more about Porter Alexander
Richard Ewell
Richard Stoddert Ewell led numerous battles during the Civil War, but his failure to capture Cemetery Hill on day one at Gettysburg led to his men and himself to be captured and imprisoned at Richmond. Read more about Richard Ewell
John Pemberton

Union Generals
List of important Union (or Northern) Civil War Generals
Ulysses S. Grant
General Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Army during the later years of the civil war, and with his victory at Appomattox Courthouse, effectively ended the civil war. Learn more about Ulysses S. Grant
George Mcclellan
General George Mcclellan led the Army Of the Potomac during the early years of the civil war. Learn more about George Mcclellan
Robert Anderson
Starting as a Major and ending as a Brigadier General, Robert Anderson is best known for surrendering Fort Sumter. Learn more about Robert Anderson
Nathaniel Banks
General Nathaniel Banks was a hapless leader of the Union Army, suffering one defeat after another. Learn more about Nathaniel Banks
General William Tecumseh Sherman
General William Tecumseh Sherman fought in many battles and his best known for taking Atlanta followed by his brutal by effective "march to the sea." Learn more about William Tecumseh Sherman
George Custer
General George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer who served in the civil war and Indian wars, meeting his end at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Read more about George Custer
Winfield Scott Hancock
General Winfield Scott Hancock was a US Army officer for his entire career and eventually a nominee for the office of President of the US in 1880. He served in the army for a total of four decades and is considered a war hero for his Gettysburg service. His nickname is “Hancock the Superb.” He died at Governor’s Island in 1886 because of complications from diabetes and an infected carbuncle. He was buried at the Montgomery Cemetery in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Read more about Winfield Scott Hancock
Abner Doubleday
Though there is a myth saying that Abner Doubleday was the inventor of baseball, he never said that he did. Doubleday was a big supporter of Abraham Lincoln. He died of a heart condition and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Read more about Abner Doubleday
Ambrose Burnside
General Ambrose Burnside Ambrose, besides being a soldier, was an industrialist, railroad executive and an inventor, eventually becoming the governor of Rhode Island as well as US Senator. In 1881, Burnside died of a heart attack and was buried at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.. Read more about Ambrose Burnside
Arthur Macarthur
General Arthur Macarthur was one of five men to ever be promoted to a five star rank of the general army. Eventually, MacArthur became the governor general for the military for the Philippines in 1900. He died of a heart attack at the age of 67 and though he was originally laid to rest in Milwaukee, his remains were moved to the Arlington National Cemetery. Read more about Arthur Macarthur
Benjamin Butler
General Benjamin Butler was not only a soldier but also a lawyer and eventually a politician for the state of Massachusetts. He still ranks as one of the, if not the, most controversial political generals during the Civil War. Butler died in court at the capital, Washington DC. He is buried at his in-laws’ cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts. Read more about Benjamin Butler
Daniel Sickles
General Daniel Sickles was a Union general during the Civil War as well as a controversial politician. Sickles was injured during battle and his leg was amputated. Even then he did all he could to boost the morale of his soldiers. After the war, he served as a Minister to Spain and as the New York State Board of Civil Service Commissioners’ President until 1889. He was sheriff of New York and eventually a representative for Congress. He died in New York City and was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery. Read more about Daniel Sickles
George Meade
General George Gordon Meade was a civil engineer and an army officer before serving as a Union general during the Civil War. He was successful in defeating General Lee but was criticized for not pursuing the Confederate Army when in his grasp. He became a commissioner of Fairmont Park in Philadelphia until his death. He died from a combination of pneumonia and old wounds and now rests at the Laurel Hill Cemetery. Read more about George Meade
George Thomas
General George Thomas served as an army officer throughout his career and a Union general at the time of the American Civil War. His career was an overall success even if he did not get the fame that other contemporaries did. Thomas died of a stroke while he was writing an answer to a critique of his military career. He was laid to rest at Oakwood Cemetery in upstate New York. Read more aboutGeorge Thomas
Irvin Mcdowell
General Irvin Mcdowell was an army officer who is better known for the defeat at First Battle of Bull Run. McDowell had at his disposal the army of Northeastern Virginia which unfortunately was inexperienced and not ready. He launched his attack due to pressure from Washington and though the strategy was imaginative, his troops were not ready to carry it out. McDowell died in 1885 and was buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery. Read more about Irvin Mcdowell
John Buford
General John Buford was an officer of the Union Cavalry during the Civil War and one of his most important roles took place at Gettysburg. Buford is known for selecting the right field of battle during Gettysburg. He died at the age of 37 due to contracting typhoid. Even in his death bed he was thinking of military strategy as his last words were “Put guards on all the roads and don’t let the men run to rear.” Read more about John Buford
John Pope
General John Pope was a general for the Union during the Civil War and a career army officer. He is mostly known for the defeat at Second Battle of Bull Run in the east, after which he was sent to Minnesota. John Pope eventually became major general in the regular army and would die at the Ohio Soldiers’ Home in Sandusky, Ohio. He was then buried at the Belle Fontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. Read more about John Pope
John Reynolds
General John Reynolds was an army officer and a general during the Civil War. He was a very respected senior commander and is known for committing the Army of the Potomac to Gettysburg. Reynolds was killed early in that same battle. He was buried in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1863. Read more aboutJohn Reynolds
Joseph Hooker
General Joseph Hooker was a major general for the Union during the Civil War and a career army officer. Hooker was known for his audacious battle strategies, one of which took place against Robert E. Lee. However, he lost that Battle at Chancellorsville. Hooker led the procession for the funeral of President Lincoln. He died while visiting Garden City in Long Island, New York and was laid to rest at the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Read more about Joseph Hooker
Joshua Chamberlain
General Joshua Chamberlain was a college professor and eventually a brigadier general and brevet major general for the Union army during the Civil War. He is known for having been given the command of Union troops for the surrender ceremony with Robert E. Lee. He served as the governor of his state of Maine. He died in 1914 in Portland, Maine and was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Brunswick. Read more about Joshua Chamberlain
Philip Sheridan
General Philip Sheridan was a Union general and an army officer throughout his career. He is known for his association with Ulysses S. Grant and for his fast assent to major general. He was also very instrumental to the development of Yellowstone National Park. He died of heart failure in Dartmouth, Massachusetts in 1888 and he was buried near Arlington House in the Arlington National Cemetery. Read more about Philip Sheridan
Oliver Howard
General Oliver Howard was a Union general in the Civil War and a career army officer. He suffered defeats at Gettysburg and Chancellorsville but at Western Theater his reputation went back up. Howard would base a lot of his policy decisions on his religion and that is why he was nicknamed “The Christian General.” Howard died in Vermont and is buried at the Lake View Cemetery in Burlington. Read more about Oliver Howard
William Starke Rosecrans
General William Starke Rosecrans was not only a general for the Union during the Civil War, but also a coal and oil company executive, an inventor, a politician and a diplomat. His early military career was full of success, however, later suffered humiliating defeats. He was considered a possibility for a Vice Presidential run with Abraham Lincoln. He served as a congressman from California and eventually died in Redondo Beach, California. Read more about William Starke Rosecrans


DOWNLOAD FILE HERE
-->

Civil war camp life

At the beginning of the American Civil War, Indiana like most states had
only a small militia, not professional soldiers. From all walks of life, including
farmers, mechanics, and small shop owners, men left their jobs to become
soldiers. Enlisting in companies as a recruit each man mustered in with fellow
townsmen. They marched through town and boarded trains for Camp Morton in
Indianapolis to answer President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops. Governor
Morton’s telegraph indicated Indiana would send 10,000 troops, though the first
quota set for Indiana was for six regiments of infantry.
by the 19th (of April, 1861)---three days after the call —
there were twenty-four hundred men in camp, and arrivals continued
 by every train. So rapidly did volunteering proceed, in less than seve
n days more than twelve thousand men, or nearly three times the quo
ta required had been tendered.
Camps were later established throughout Indiana. Examples were Camp Vigo,
Camp Tippecanoe, Camp Sullivan, Camp Wayne, and Camp Carrington.
Once in camp each man needed a uniform, a rifle, and various other
accouterments, but these supplies were not readily available at the beginning of
the war. Many men brought supplies from home and signed up for a three-month
enlistment. They marched off with thoughts of victory and being home for
Christmas. Instead they found life as a soldier to be dangerous though
sometimes boring. This did not stop them from re-enlisting for three years and
making friendships that lasted a lifetime. For duty and honor,
the letters home reflected the making of inexperienced citizen
recruits into hardened war veterans.

DID YOU KNOW?
· The Army camp is organized by company, regiment, brigade,
division, and corps. Each company has approximately 100 men,
with commonly ten (10) companies to a regiment and the number of regiments to a
brigade varying with the size of the regiment and the commanding officer.
· A soldier’s knapsack and accouterments could weigh between 30 and 50 pounds.
(A student’s book bag should weigh 15 to 20 percent of the child’s weight; i.e., a 40-
pound child would carry six pounds.)
· Under the Militia Act of 1792 & 1795, seventy-five thousand (75,000) troops was the
most a president could call up or ask to serve without the consent of Congress.
Prior to enlistment in the army, most men had never been very far from
home. One thing that made this situation easier was that companies of men
came from the same town, city, or county. They could talk about the same
places, the same people, in some cases the same relatives. Many soldiers joined
to save the Union. Others joined to preserve the status quo. A much smaller
third group wanted the slaves to be freed from their owners. At the first camp the
troops learned military discipline and rules, elected their leaders, were issued
their uniforms, and worried about the family they left at home. The month or two
spent in endless drills and inspections made them eager to be on the trains for
the East or South. Letters in early 1861 reflected the optimism that they were off
on a great cause. They hoped the war was not over before they arrived on the
battlefront. To show honor and courage and not embarrass oneself was the
highest aim. David Mitchell Hudson wrote on March 8, 1864, that in his camp, “we can
see 3,000 men drawn up to line for battle, which I tell you looks considerably
military. Our camp looks just like a town.”
 Many camps were organized with
proper streets of tents for officers and enlisted men, kitchens, sutlers, stockade,
and latrines. On the open fields around the camp the soldiers drilled and drilled
and drilled.
J.W. Bartmess, a recruit, wrote from Camp Carrington on Nov. 26, 1862,
to his wife, “the following is a list of what we get and the prices:
Dress coat $6.71
Over Coat $7.20
pants $3.03
Shirts    .88
drawers    .50
Socks    .26
blanket $2.60
knap sack $2.75
Canteen    .48
haversack    .48
Rubber blanket $1.25
hat $1.55
trimmings on hat    .30
total           $27.99
and he ended this commentary with “but we get no trimmings you know."                                               
In addition to clothes soldiers carried food for the number of days they were on
the march, as well as, their rifle, accouterments, and any personal items such
as cards or a tin type photographs of loved ones.
DOWNLOAD FILE HERE

-->

Civil War Arts Artists

A case can be made that the America Civil War holds a fascination to a larger number of
Americans than any other period in our history.  This premise is supported by:
•  The existence of over 30,000 book titles on the subject (and more appearing weekly)
•  The perpetuation of groups like the Sons of Union Veterans, The United Confederate
Veterans, and a nation-wide network of Civil War Roundtables
•  Living history thriving in the form of re-enactment groups who give camp and battle
from Maine to California
•  Museums that outnumber those focusing on any other period in our history
•  The world’s largest group of amateur archeologists (a.k.a. metal detectors)
•  And a collecting and research community that is continuously clarifying and reviving
historic knowledge by writing about the artifacts they’ve found.
I am one of these Civil War enthusiasts.  Have been since I was a child, a situation exacerbated by the centennial in the early 1960’s.  When we played “cowboys and Indians”, I always took
on the guise of the Civil War period soldier.  For Christmas when I was 11, I got the Marx
®
The
Blue and the Gray play set.  During this lifelong experience, I have found that there are basically
three kinds of “buffs”: re-enactors, academics, and collectors.  Contrary to an obvious assumption,
few buffs are all three.  In fact, there is wide-spread misunderstanding between many of these otherwise kindred spirits.  But that’s a topic for another time.
This fascination (some would call affliction or even addiction) in the War Between the
States has often prompted others to ask the simple question of me.  “Why?”.  “Why are so many
people caught up in a arguably horrible war that happened so long ago?”   That question can be answered by many of wonderful and legitimate theories.   A few are:
•  Emotional reasons of romance, chivalry, loyalty and the Lost Cause.
•  Political reasons of States Rights, emancipation, and the success of the experiment
in democracy.
•  Military reasons of uniforms, weaponry, tactics, and generalship.
•  Poignant reasons of pathos, sacrifice, and heroism.
•  Scientific reasons like the first tactical use of repeating firearms, ironclads, railroads,
telegraphs, submarines, and aerial battlefield observation.
•  Personal accessibility reasons like reading a soldier’s letter, seeing an actual photograph of a soldier in his battle gear, or holding his gun, cap, or mess knife.
•  Visual reasons like birth of photography,  grand painted portraiture of heroes, battlefield artist’s drawings, and soldier’s personal sketches.
These last examples, the visuals, are a strong contributing reason of why I’m fascinated by
the Civil War.  I find that collecting original eye-witness art is one of the most revealing categories
of Period  Photography and Reaching the Masses
Photography was new but in full-bloom during the War and tens of thousands of military images  survive today.  The evolution of daguerreotype to
ambrotype to ferrotype to paper photographs had already happened.  But one
aspect of Period photography may not be clearly understood by many today.
Photographs could not appear in print and, in fact, could not be mass produced.
Yes, paper photographs from glass negatives could be made in theoretically limitless quantities, but not in an efficient, economical way.  The process of printing
individual photographs was slow and the distribution network for sales just
didn’t exist.  For these reasons, engravings derived from hand drawn sketches were still the primary
way contemporary Americans saw anything about the War beyond their own family members’ single photographic images.  Even the commercial offerings of Matthew Brady, E. & H. T. Anthony,
and other lesser known publisher/photographers (usually of generals, politicians and celebrities)
were not widely available (especially in the rural areas and western states) until near the War’s end.
And even then, all one could see was a rigidly posed individual or, at best, a small group.   The
panoramic photographic views made by George Cook, Alexander Gardner, and Timothy
O’Sullivan, were only seen by a privileged few and actions shots were virtually non-existent.
What actually reached more Americans of the era was contemporary art.   These media included: mass produced engravings, magic lantern slides, exhibited paintings, professional sketch
artists’ drawings in periodicals, soldier artists’ sketches, and book illustrations.
Mass Produced Engravings and Magic Lantern Slides
The patriotic fervor that accompanied having family men in the field led to new markets for
art during the War.  Northern commercial printing enterprises like Currier and Ives, Charles Magnus, and Louis Prang & Co. printed wood block engravings of celebrities, generals, and historic events
for the general public.  These crudely colored, cartoonish  illustrations found their way onto patriotic
covers (mailing envelopes), ‘suitable for framing'
posters, and even trading cards.  Even though the
subject matter was usually presented in a wildly inaccurate manner, these colorful, affordable souvenirs
were very popular during the War.  The fact that they
were executed by men who never saw the event, the
subject, nor even the locale, makes them less interesting to the historian of today.
Period magic lantern slides were circular glass plates with photographic transfers applied
and then hand colored.  They were sorted chronologically and projected to crowds for an admission
Battle of Gettysburg  Currier & Ives, c. 1863
Bayoneting the Wounded, Sherman’s Battery, & The Battle of Lexington, Mo.  3” diameter glass mounted in a 4” X 7” wooden mount.and much like the twentieth century’s newsreels were.  These remained popular into the 1880’s.
The earlier examples can be recognized by an artistic style similar to the contemporary engravings
and by their content.  Propaganda abounded and events and generals that were hot topics early in
the War quickly became yesterday’s news (and in the case of many generals, persona non grata).
Contemporary editions showcased “battles” at places like Lexington, Belmont, Carthage, Martinsburg, Salem, and Big Bethel.   These affairs became dwarfed by later events to the extent that they
became mere footnotes by subsequent historians.  You will also find that those editions’ late-war
images were less inaccurate as they seemed to draw from the equivalent of today’s “file footage” to
represent an event.  A case in point is in one period set, the slide labeled “Gettysburg” shows a Union unit over-running a Confederate battery; hardly an icon of that battle.
Fine Artists (Painters)
In our nation’s infancy, Americans were greatly influenced
by their European sires.  The professional artists of the time worked
on commissioned pieces under the patronage system and the subject
matter was invariably either a portrait or a landscape.  It was not
fashionable to paint anything else.  As a result of this tradition, the
number of American  history paintings by contemporary American
artists prior to the Civil War is incredibly small.  The few examples
of American Revolution themed
paintings were done
on commission to
hang in public facilities.  To escape
the stigma of being
something less than
legitimate, they often took on the
aspects of classical Greek, or Roman themes at the
expense of accuracy.  On  a more pragmatic level,
there was just no demand or market for contemporary historic art.  Painters of the early nineteenth
century were not persons of social stature and the
term “starving artist” was period vernacular.
This held true up to the beginning of the Civil
War  as well.  Few American painters chose to paint
war subjects simply because there was no profit in it.
There had also been no system of studios or galleries
that would give professional artists an outlet for their
creations (Europe had many such enclaves and most
American painters and sculptors made a trip abroad
to study in one of them).  This situation began to
change in 1857 when the Tenth Street Studio building was established in New York City and patrons
began to more actively support the arts.  As the war
became a way of life,  politicians began to ask for
Sheridan’s Ride, T. B. Read  1865
Burnside & Staff, L. Wagner, 1863 oil on canvas
Lt. J. B. Phillips, CSA,
oil on porcelain.
Unknown Union captain,
oil on board. Untitled by Franklin Dullin Briscoe (1844-1903).  Oil on canvas, 13 X 21”, dated 1868.  A Rebel courier dashes
away from Pelham’s fieldpiece at Fredericksburg(?).
paintings with themes of glory as promotions for their meeting halls, fund raisers, and political
campaigns.  Painters like Thomas Buchanan Read and Albert Bierstadt took advantage of this new
patriotic fervor.  Fledgling artists like Winslow Homer, Edward Lamson Henry, and Eastman Johnson found their own war experiences great subject matter in their early careers.  Others like the 46
th
Virginia’s Conrad Wise Chapman, the 40
th
 New York’s Robert Knox Sneden, and the 3
rd
 Vermont’s
Julian Scott actually honed their early artistic careers as members of headquarters staffs whose duties required them to record terrain, buildings, fortifications, and other landmarks.  They each kept
their wartime sketches as studies and converted them into paintings after the War.
Newspaper Artists (Professional Sketch Artists)
Not only was photography of the
mid nineteenth century not translatable
into print, period cameras could not capture movement.  This made pictures of
soldiers in battle or even on the march
impossible.  On the other hand, an artist
could edit and pose from chaos and
smoke a fully understandable tableau.  So
anything that needed to be seen by many
or had an element of action was necessarily drawn by an artist, engraved by an
engraver, and printed by a printer.  Alfred
and William Waud, Edwin Forbes, Frank
A Vizetelly, Walton Taber, James E. Taylor,
ssassination of Gen. Nelson, by Henry Mosler.  Pencil and gouache,
6 X 9”.  Shows Jefferson C. Davis’ infamous deed. Major General Butler after the Battle of September 29, 1864, gouache painting by William Waud (left).  Harpers cover
(right).  Waud left instructions to the engravers on the back, including the idea to add staff officers.  The cap on Butlers bald
head was probably an editor’s suggestion.  Note the final version is reversed as would an engraved print.
the aforementioned Winslow Homer, Henry Mosler, and Thomas Nast were a few of this new category of “battlefield artists” who were employed by periodicals like Harper’s Weekly and Frank
Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.  These men were the equivalent of today’s mini-cam crews and
cameramen.  They were on the spot and with the troops.  Although they sometimes missed actual
events, they dutifully strived for accuracy by interviewing eyewitnesses and almost always drew at
the actual locale.  Men like Alexander Simplot, an Iowan, sent in their drawings from the faraway
theater of the Trans-Mississippi.  These illustrators’ creations survive today in their engraved, published forms.  Original and reproduction bound and single copies of Harpers and Leslies are readily
available to collectors and historians.  Occasionally, an actual sketch or even a gouache painting
turns up and often with artist’s notes to the engraver.
Artist’s note reads: “Spiking the Guns at the Upper Battery at Island No. 10 on the night on the second”.   By Alexander
Simplot (1837-1914).  Pencil, 7 X 12”.  Details shows sailor’s raised hammer about to spike a large caliber cannon. Soldier Art
Soldiers sometimes illustrated their journals and letters with sketches of delightfully varying
skill.  If they had the materials, enough time in one location, and a place to store their handiwork,
they sometimes created drawings that rivaled some of the professional correspondent’s works in
terms of insight, content, and accuracy.  As importantly to today’s researchers and historians, common soldiers tended to record ‘soldier life’, a topic rich in detail and discovery (what kind of
clothing and accoutrements were they wearing, glimpses of gear, etc.)  
A poignant example of the pathos that can be associated with a personal item is this sketch
of the officer’s tents of the 8
th
 New York State Militia.  On April 23,1861, Private Alfred D. Whitehouse was mustered into the 8
th
, also known as the Washington Grays.  In June, he drew this picture
when the regiment was near Washington City preparing for the first major battle of the War.  On
July 15
th
, Alfred visited the Smithsonian, mounted the institution’s scale and listed his height at 5’
8” and his weight as 141 pounds.
Twelve days later, on July 27
th
, Private Whitehouse was
severely wounded in the same right arm that he drew this picture, as the 8
th
  was repulsed by Confederate General Thomas J.,
‘Stonewall’ Jackson’s counterattack.  Left on the field near Bull
Run as a prisoner, the arm was amputated.  Alfred Whitehouse
had done his duty and a budding artist would draw no more.
Private John F. Gisch, Company A, 24th
Alabama Infantry earned spending money during
his stay at the Rock Island Prison in Illinois by
painting water color views of the stockade. Colored infantry guards in full uniform man the walls.
This original water color is 10½″ X 14″. A similar
painting by Gisch hangs in the present day Rock
Island Arsenal Museum. An unknown Union Soldier drew “After Dress Parade” an image full of details of camp life.
Owning an original drawing “from the field” can be one of the most visceral connections a
person can make with a soldier.  He spent considerable time and thought composing and completing
it and was proud to show it to his pards.  The subject matter was always first-hand and meaningful
to him.  It was more than a letter, it was meant to be shared and to endure.
Music, dancing, boxing, card playing, drunkenness and a rooster named
after Old Abe the War eagle.  Pencil, 10 X 12”.
This view of Fredericksburg was drawn in 1863 by a member of the First Minnesota Infantry, probably Pvt. George Durfee.  The Sentry in the  foreground is Identified as "Chet", his brother.  This detailed image uncovered new information to
Fredericksburg historians about where the First was encamped and the state of many of the buildings and bridges after the
battle of Fredericksburg.  Pencil 8 X 12”.Book illustrators of the postwar era were often veterans themselves.  Many such as William Henry
Shelton (1
st
 NY Light Artillery),
Thomas R. Chapin (Chapin’s NJ Battery),  Charles Wellington Reed (9
th
Massachusetts Artillery) and John D.
Woodward (William’s Kentucky
Light Artillery, Confederate) joined a
large group of artists that contributed
to seminal 1880’s illustrated works
such as Century Magazine, Battles
and Leaders of the Civil War, The
Confederate Solider in the Civil War,
and Campfire and Battlefield.
Books such as John D. Billings’ Hardtack and Coffee, Warren
Lee Goss’ Recollections of a Private,
Wilbur Hinman’s Corporal Si Klegg
and his Pard and George Peck’s How
Private Peck Put Down the Rebellion.
are some of the most popular books
on the War to this day because of the
revealing combination of details on
daily minutia and supporting illustrations.
Collections of these original
drawings have been recovered from
the archives of the book publishers and the opportunity to own and examine them is not uncommon.
Vicksburg, April 15, 1863, James E. Taylor, 1888, top.  As engraved in The
Confederate Soldier in the Civil War, bottom.
John R. Chapin (far
left) created this
Gouache painting of
Pickett’s  charge and
the copse of trees at
Gettysburg.  Chapin’s own battery
didn’t arrive in time
for this event, but he
undoubtedly observed the field
immediately afterward.In the 1880’s, a new market of aging veterans inspired publishing companies such as Prang
and Kurz and Allison to produce high quality chromolithographs that immortalized historic events
of the War.  The latter company’s examples are easily identifiable as all of the combatants in the
battle scenes are impeccably dressed in matching uniforms on both sides.  Prang’s were much more
accurate and were commissioned by known, accomplished contract artists.  These are widely reprinted and both originals and reprints are readily available to collectors.
The Artists
The men who served and drew at the front were a romantic lot and learning about their lives
can be an interesting and rewarding journey.  For instance, you may have noticed that an unusual
number of the soldier artists listed here were artillerists.  An argument can be made that this was
influenced by two facts: 1) the batteries were often made up of educated (and therefore cultured)
college men and 2) they had battery wagons to hold and preserve their supplies and creations.
It is also interesting to note that two well known and acclaimed artists, Julian Scott and
Charles Wellington Reed, were Congressional Medal of Honor recipients.  Scott was a 16 yearold fifer at the time.  Their citations read:
SCOTT, JULIAN A.
Rank and organization: Drummer, Company E, 3d Vermont Infantry. Place and date.
At Lees Mills, Va., 16 April 1862.  Entered service at. Johnson, Vt. Birth: Johnson, Vt.
Date of issue: February 1865. Citation: Crossed the creek under a terrific fire of musketry several times to assist in bringing off the wounded.
REED, CHARLES W.
Rank and organization: Bugler, 9th Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ----.
Birth: Charlestown, Mass. Date of issue: 16 August 1895. Citation: Rescued his
wounded captain from between the lines.
DOWNLOAD FILE HERE

-->