This
collection presents 111 images of drawings and text, depicting both important
events and everyday scenes from the Civil War.
A
few sketches show in great detail the uniforms of different regiments and ranks
of soldiers; others show troop movements by specific regiments. Small towns are
shown with Union troops passing through them, and other southern landscapes including
plantations are depicted. Many scenes were drawn very quickly and roughly, in
order to capture newsworthy events. Others are carefully crafted satires, like
"24 Weeks on the Potomac" which shows McClellan and Beauregard contemplating
one another across the  Potomac
River during a stalemate early in the war. On the back (verso) of some of these
sketches the artist described the scene and general battle atmosphere in great
detail. The pencil, pen-and-ink,
crayon and wash drawings range in size from 5 x 5 inches to 19 x 12 inches. They
were made by "special artists" employed by Frank Leslie's Illustrated
Newspaper, and used as a basis for the wood engravings that illustrated it. Many
of the artists were professionals such as John Francis Edward Hillen and E.B.
Bensell. Others were soldiers and others in the field who submitted their drawings
for publication.
The
sketches were made from the earliest days of the war, in April 1861, when troops
were being moved to defend Washington, to February 1865, when the U.S. flag was
raised over Fort Sumter after being recaptured by Union troops. Some date from
April and May 1865, when Lincoln's body was lying in state after his assassination.
The sketches were able to capture action that photographs were not able to convey
at the time, and provide immediacy lacking in the other medium. The
collection has 85 sheets, some of which have drawings on both sides of the paper.
Others have descriptions or letters to Frank Leslie or descriptions on the verso.
In these cases, the backs of the drawings were also imaged and described; the
records for front and back are linked as related items. Here
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