A recent acquisition by the Military Collection is an original pencil and water-color sketch (20 x 23 cm.) depicting soldiers resting and drinking from a river. While it is unsigned, the drawing is in the style of Alfred R. Waud (1828-1891), the noted special artist for Harper’s Weekly during the Civil War. The picture appears not to have been published.
According to the dealer’s catalog entry, two mounted figures, identified as Union soldiers, stare tiredly into the distance while their horses refresh themselves; on the right a group of three seated men guzzle from their canteens. The perspective of the image looks upstream towards a range of hills. The purpose of the large wooden structures across the river is unknown.
The drawing is typical of the hastily-produced sketches drawn by special artists in the 19th century. Batches of sketches were folded and placed in envelopes to mail to the various newspapers where they were then re-drawn on wooden blocks for engraving and printing in the weekly papers. This example clearly bears the folds.
