Civil War Art-- Part 5: Alfred Waud and Edwin Forbes

Alfred Waud was the most prolific special and created some of the most memorable sketches of Gettsburg and Antietam. On July 21, 1861, he traveled to the Bull Run battlefield on the wagon of his good friend, photograoher Matthew Brady. At one point he took up arms against the Confederates that day and used a pistol to deter a Union soldier trying to commandeer his horse on his return.

He had good friendships with officers which allowed him great access to battlefields, but also was prone to showing the regular soldier.

Edwin Forbes of Leslie's Illustrated was very focused on human-interest and figure study of the regular soldiers and made sketches of soldiers relaxing, cooking, cleaning, reading, shaving and doing other daily activities.

Just Regular Folk. --Old Secesh

Loved Those Illustrated Books

Growing up, one of my first Civil War books was Fletcher Pratt's Civil War in Pictures. I looked through those pictures many times and wore out my first copy. I'd even go so far as to count the soldiers in the pictures, that's how bad I was.

That book and the American Heritage Civil War were by far my two favorites. Later, when I had more money, I bought both oversized books, one featuring Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper and the other Harper's Weekly.

You couldn't get much closer to the war.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Art-- Part 4: Dominant Pictorial Weeklies

Two national pictorial weeklies dominated the national scene in 1861, both published in New York City: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper and Harper's Weekly.

Henry Carter, known as Frank Leslie, his pen name, had managed the engraving department at the Illustrated London News, the world's first pictorial weekly. He did well after immigration to America, debuting in 1855 and with weekly publication of 100,000 copies. They claimed to be neutral in approach to the war.

Fletcher Harper, publisher of Harper's Weekly, stood firmly with Lincoln, the Republicans and abolitionists. As such, his pictorial magazine was not much liked in the South when it began in 1857. At first Harper's had been more literary than journalistic, but that changed with the coming of the war. In short time, Harper's had hired top talent, including Alfred Waud, Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast.

--Old Secesh