Artistic License?

[WJC]

We've all seen them: paintings, prints, battlefield drawings, and sketches. They're in books, on-line and in museums. They are often used to illustrate an action or a battle. Sometimes we get our whole perception of the event from them.
But how accurate are they?

Vizitelly [Frank Vizitelly (1830-1883), Southern correspondent and artist for the London Illustrated News], the English artist... arrived very sheep-faced, long after the battle [Chickamauga]. He took me aside with: "Colonel, I am in an awful mess. I must send drawings and a picture of this great battle to my paper somehow. Cannot you help me?" We were at the time not very far from a little field that had a scene during the fighting which struck me, even then, as somewhat picturesque. This open field crowned with thick woods at one side, through which frowned half a dozen Federal guns and a brigade of ours moving up in beautiful order to capture it. I said as much as this to Vizitelly, and sent him to look at the spot. He returned, on fire with his artist's fancies, and shut himself up for several days. Then he emerged with drawings, and much letter-press of what he had actually seen; and principally a very large drawing beautifully finished of the so-called "Little scene". But heavens! all resemblance had ceased. Instead of the slight affair, three solid lines of infantry were moving across a great stretch of ground against hundreds of guns that were devastating our troops in fire and smoke. In the central portion there was the wounding and fall of a great officer and the closing in of the soldiers to protect him. "What think yo?' said the proud Vizitelly. "Splendid, but nothing like it took place." "No matter, it might have happened, and besides all battle pictures are drawn with such freedom." Who is the general just falling? "That, sir, is General Hood, drawn the instant of being shot." "But my good Vizitelly, Hood was not within a mile of that little field I gave you." "No matter, he was shot, no one will deny that; and I must have a great interesting center for my picture. You fellows are altogether too particular. This goes by first underground chance, and you will see it in the London Illustrated News. And so I did in the quiet sitting room of a Northern friend later on.​

<G. Moxley Sorrel, At the Right Hand of Longstreet: Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer. (New York: Neale Publishing Company, 1905), pp. 204-205.>

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Probably depends on the intent of the artist. If they're trying to explain something that happened, they'll make different decisions than if they're trying to impress someone with something that happened.

 

[7thWisconsin]

There was a good bit of artistic license taken in illustrating the action of the war. Fletcher Pratt wrote a very insightful book which is titled IIRC "The Civil War in Pictures, which is actually a fairly scholarly study in how illustrations changed over the course of the war. He contended that the artists began the war with fairly glorious and romantic notions of how things should look (i.e. the way horses run) and that with experience that gave way to more realistic treatments.

 

[damYankee]

If you see Brian Williams in the picture it's fake! But seriously, the artist renditions of battles from the era are romanticized and exaggerated,. I doubt that more than a hand full of the sketch artist selling their work witnessed much of the battles they drew sketches.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

There were Forbes and Waud and a few others directly in harm's way. It's probably the same as anything else, where an entire group can be roped together because of the actions of others.

I'd have to go look up some more but between Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper and Harper's, artist/journalists sure were there recording history. I forget his name from the top of my head- Waud stopped to bury one of his peers while both were riding with a cavalry unit en route to Gettysburg. They'd been ambushed.

Here's a cavalry charge by Forbes- not a lot of romanticized landscape or glory. Looks around as ugly you'd think.

 

[Seduzal]

Sometimes that's all you got to go on as a hand drawn picture! Although it maybe battle plans were drawn on paper also. Thanks for sharing this awesome story.