Grant and His Generals (Painting)

Artwork available to Buy as a Digital Print

Ole Peter Hansen Balling's 1865 Civil War painting depicts Grant & His Generals from left-to-right: Thomas Casimer Deven, George Armstrong Custer, Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, William Hemsley Emory, Philip Henry Sheridan, James Birdseye McPherson, George Crook, Wesley Merritt, George Henry Thomas, Gouverneur Kemble Warren, George Gordon Meade, John Grubb Parke, William Tecumseh Sherman, John Alexander Logan, Ulysses Simpson Grant, Ambrose Everett Burnside, Joseph Hooker, Winfried Scott Hancock, John Aaron Rawlins, Edward Otho Cresap, Francis Preston Blair, Alfred Howe Terry, Henry Warner Slocum, Jefferson Columbus Davis, Oliver Otis Howard, John McAllister Schofield, Joseph Anthony Mower.

According to the Smithsonian: "As the Civil War moved into its final stages in the fall of 1864, the Norwegian artist Ole Peter Hansen Balling and a prosperous New Yorker conceived of the idea for a large equestrian painting depicting the commander of the Union armies, Ulysses S. Grant, flanked by an array of generals who served under him. Upon completion, the painting would be used to raise funds for the United States Sanitary Commission, a private organization for aiding sick and wounded soldiers. To obtain likenesses of the 27 figures in the picture, Balling traveled to Union army encampments to make life studies of his subjects. Among the most cooperative was Grant, who gave Balling repeated opportunities to draw him as he rode with staff officers to survey the forward lines near his headquarters at City Point, Virginia."

Per Google Arts: "Balling joined General Grant at City Point, Virginia during the campaign against Richmond and spent five weeks there sketching officers in the field. Phillip H. Sheridan was painted while in the Shenandoah Valley. The portraits of William Tecumseh Sherman and George H. Thomas were done in Washington D.C. after the war’s end. The image of George Armstrong Custer is thought to be the only portrait painted of him from life."

Artist: Ole Peter Hansen Balling
Date: 1865
Original medium: Oil on Canvas
Orientation: Horizontal/Landscape
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