This print is a commentary on President Andrew Jackson’s distrust of the Second National Bank of the United States. In this print, Jackson stands with fictional character Major Jack Downing, discussing how to break the bank’s corrupt "moneypoly"[sic]. Created by journalist, Seba Smith, Downing represented the common man that Jackson worked to protect. In the background, three belled donkeys with the faces of Martin Van Buren, Francis P. Blair, and A. Weaver, are harnessed together, carrying saddles labeled " $50,000.” That is a reference to Jackson’s desire to remove the money from the Second National Bank of the United States and redistribute it amongst the state banks. On the back of Blair, the lead donkey is a globe, referring to his position as the editor of the Pro-Jackson newspaper, the “Globe.” The donkeys are being led by Treasury Secretary William John Duane, who was dismissed by Jackson after he refused to remove the deposits. On the right of the print are three unidentified men who oppose Jackson’s decision, seeing it as “mad” and destructive.
The publisher of this print is C.H. Evans, but further information is not available at this time.
Seamed, flared cylindrical cup flat chased on its exterior with a scene of geese and chickens, including a rooster at right, amidst a broken post-and-rail fence overrun by grasses. Engraved "Virginia from Uncle Morgan / June 20\th..1900" in script on front, opposite a cast, floral C-scroll handle attached by shells. Rim molding is applied to the gold washed interior; that at base features pinnate leaves on triple reeding. Set-in flat bottom struck with a full set of incuse marks on underside for "TIFFANY & C\o / MAKERS" flanked by pattern and order numbers "7993" and "9684" above "STERLING SILVER", "925-1000" and date letter "T"; additional numbers scratched next to maker's name.
Black and white print; a broadside announcing that the race horse,Trustee, would stand for mares during the present season at a particular stable. A small view of a man holding the reins of a horse is above the text giving the details of the horse's pedigree and performance.
Description
A black and white print of a man holding the reins of a black stallion in a meadow. The broadside announces Trustee will stand for mares.
Trustee was foaled in 1837 from Trustee and Fanny Pollen, a distant mare of Messenger. Trustee’s pedigree is significant because it represents a shift from the traditional method of breeding running stallions to trotting mares to the newer method of breeding proven trotting champions together. He was famous for trotting 20 miles in 35.5 minutes in 1848.
Jared W. Bell was born in 1798 and died in 1870 from Bright’s Disease in New York. He had been married and was a painter by profession.
A sequel to Kimmel and Forster’s earlier “The Outbreak of the Rebellion in the United States,” this 1866 print features a symbolic representation of the downfall of the Confederacy and the end of the Civil War. Upon an altar carved with relief portraits of Washington and Lincoln, stand two robed females figures, Liberty, who wears a Phrygian cap and holds an American flag, and Columbia, who is adorned with a crown of stars. Below them to the left, Lady Justice triumphantly raises her sword and balance. In the foreground of the scene, a black soldier and a freedman kneel before the central pedestal. Behind Liberty stand President Andrew Johnson and the Union generals, Grant, Sherman, and Butler. In the background, behind these officers, an outfit of solemn, well-postured Union troops face opposite a disorganized grouping of defeated Southern fighters. A selection of notable Confederates are gathered in the right of the scene, including Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and John Wilkes Booth. An eagle grasping thunderbolts flies above all these figures and in the background, an American flag waves over Fort Sumter.
Christopher Kimmel was born in Germany around 1850 and after immigrating to the United States, was active in New York City from 1850 to 1876. He was part of Capewell & Kimmel from 1853 to 1860, and then partnered with Thomas Forster in 1865, forming the lithography firm of Kimmel & Forster, which was active until 1871.
This hand colored lithographic print depicts the heads of three horses drinking at a water trough. The horse on the far left has his mouth in the water. The two horses on the right have raised their heads, and water drips from their mouths in a thin stream. Water flows into the trough from a stone or clay pipe on the left. A vine is on the left and a branch with leaves is in the right foreground.
The print is a copy based on an 1847 painting by John Frederick Herring Sr., which hangs in the Tate Gallery. The original painting was so popular that it was widely reproduced as a print (lithographs and engravings). The Kellogg version may have been inspired by the "Cold Water Army" a children's group who pledged to drink large quantities of cold water instead of alcohol and who were sponsored by the Connecticut Temperance Society, which was based in Hartford with the Kellogg family of lithographers and publishers. The image is also known to have been used as a basis for the children's story about the dangers of consuming alcohol. By 1917, the image was promoted as a picture for use "in schools and for schoolroom decoration."
This print was produced by lithographer Elijah Chapman Kellogg (1811-1881). He was the youngest of the four Kellogg brothers, all of whom were lithographers. The brothers were born in Tolland, Connecticut, a small town located near where the family business was established in Hartford. E.C. Kellogg was the only brother among the Kelloggs to receive his professional training in Hartford. In 1840, Elijah Chapman Kellogg, along with his brother Edmund Burke Kellogg (1809-1872), took over the D. W. Kellogg & Co. after Daniel Wright Kellogg (1807-1874), its founder, moved west. Elijah and Edmund Kellogg were responsible for most of the company’s future partnerships. Elijah Chapman Kellogg retired in 1867.
The original artist, John Frederick Herring (1795-1865) was a stage driver and painter known for attending horse races and specializing in painting horses in England.
This print depicts a scene of Union soldiers trading goods with their former Confederate adversaries in the village of Appomattox Court House, where Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. Captured Confederate cannons and ammunition are visible behind the soldiers. The print also contains four corner vignettes, which show a view of the Appomattox Court House in the upper left; a view of the McLean house, where Grant and Lee met to discuss the terms of surrender, in the upper right; a scene in which soldiers cut apart the apple tree under which Grant and Lee were reported to have held an initial interview in the lower right (this meeting never actually took place); and an illustration of the crossing of the Linchburg and Danville Railroads near Burksville Station in the lower left.
Elbridge Wesley Webber (1839-1914) was born in Gardiner, Maine, and served during the Civil War in the 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and the design of this print comes from a sketch he made of the village. After the war, he settled in Boston, paintings seascapes and scenes of sailing ships.
This print was published by the lithographer James H. Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
The Douglas and Stanton hospitals, two of about 25 hospitals opened in the Capital and Alexandria to care for wounded Union soldiers, were located at I and 2nd Streets and opened in early 1862. “Douglas Row,” composed of the three large brick houses near the center of the print, was constructed in 1856-1857 through an investment by Senator Stephen Douglas, the Northern Democratic candidate who ran against Lincoln in the 1860 Election. Upon its completion, Douglas and his wife moved into one of the homes, and Senator Henry Rice of Minnesota and Vice President John C. Breckinridge purchased the others. Douglas died shortly after the outbreak of war, and his widow, Adele, and Senator Rice offered their homes to the government for use as a military hospital. The government accepted and also seized the home of Breckinridge, who had become a major general in the Confederate Army. Stanton Hospital was erected in the vacant square outside of Douglas Row and was named after Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
Washington D.C. hospitals were supported by the United States Sanitary Commission, a relief agency approved by the War Department on June 18, 1861 to provide assistance to sick, wounded, and travelling Union soldiers. Nurses and inspectors belonging to commission provided suggestions that helped to reform the U.S. Army Medical Bureau. Although the leaders of the Commission were men, the agency depended on thousands of women, who collected donations, volunteered as nurses in hospitals, and offered assistance at rest stations and refreshment saloons. They also sponsored Sanitary Fairs in Northern cities, raising millions of dollars used to send food, clothing, and medicine to Union soldiers.
Charles Magnus (1826-1900) was born Julian Carl Magnus in Germany and immigrated with his family to New York City sometime between 1848 and 1850. During the 1850s, he learned the printing business while working with his brother on a German language weekly newspaper, the Deutsche Schnellpost. He later began his own lithographer firm, producing city views and commercial letterhead designs. During the Civil War, he designed pro-Union envelopes and illustrated song sheets. The firm’s Washington, D.C. branch also produced small, hand-colored scenes of Union camps and hospitals. Soldiers purchased these picturesque scenes of camp life to send home to calm the worries of anxious family members.
This 1865 print offers satirical commentary on the Buchanan administration and the beginning of the war. In the center, stand the allegorical figures of Liberty, wearing a Phrygian cap and holding an American flag, and Justice, who angrily raises up her sword and balance. Liberty stands on top of broken chains and a whips, a reference to abolition. Abraham Lincoln stands to Liberty’s left, accompanied by General Winfield Scott. Lincoln orates to a crowd of concerned Northerners – the men pour out coins at his feet while the women are reduced to tears. To the lower left of Liberty, President Buchanan sleeps, his untouched quill and inkwell left untouched before him. His Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, who had been accused of misappropriating government funds, greedily shovels coins into a sack. Behind these two men, an unruly mob of Southerners tear at an American flag held by Jefferson Davis, whose Vice-President, Alexander Stevens, stands beside him. Above this crowd, a crowned serpent has coiled itself around a palmetto tree and spits venom in the face of Justice, comparing the actions of the secessionists below to the biblical Fall of Man. In the background at left, smoke-shrouded armies clash and Fort Sumter fires its cannon, but to the right, a new sun rises over mountains, illuminating a prosperous city.
Christopher Kimmel was born in Germany around 1850 and after immigrating to the United States, was active in New York City from 1850 to 1876. He was part of Capewell & Kimmel from 1853 to 1860, and then partnered with Thomas Forster in 1865, forming the lithography firm of Kimmel & Forster, which was active until 1871. This print was followed by a sequel, “The End of the Rebellion in the United States, 1865,” also in the NMAH’s America on Stone Collection.
This anti-slavery print from around 1857 exhibits the portraits of four of the leading abolitionists of the 1850s. In the center of the portraits, an eagle sits atop an American crest, holding in its beak a banner that reads, “Liberty.” Below the portraits, another banner celebrates the men’s guiding principles of “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Soil, Free Men.” All of the men pictured in the print vehemently opposed the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, which employed the doctrine of popular sovereignty to allow the people living in these territories to vote them into the Union as either slave or free states. Horace Greeley, at top, established the New York Tribune and played a leading role in the formation of the Republican Party. William H. Seward, a New York Senator, spoke out in Congress against pro-slavery elements in the Compromise of 1850, such as the Fugitive Slave Act. John Greenleaf Whittier was a Quaker poet and founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society. Charles Sumner became a hero of the abolition movement after he endured a life-threatening beating on the Senate floor after denouncing pro-slavery South Carolina Congressmen. Even before he had gained renown as the victim of “Bleeding Sumner,” the Senator had been a strong proponent of abolition and civil rights for African Americans. In 1848, the city of Boston denied Sarah Robert, a five-year-old black girl, enrollment at a white-only school. In an ensuing court case, Sumner challenged the constitutionality of racially segregated schools in Boston, although the Court ultimately ruled in favor of Boston.
This print was produced by the Hartford, Connecticut lithographic firm of E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. Edmund Burke Kellogg and Elijah Chapman Kellogg were younger brothers of the founder of the Kellogg lithography firm, Daniel Wright Kellogg. After Daniel Wright Kellogg moved west, his two brothers took over the family lithography firm in 1840 and changed the name to E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. They were responsible for the continued success of the family firm and involved in the partnerships with Horace Thayer in 1846-1847, John Chenevard Comstock in 1848 and William Henry Bulkeley in 1867.
Color print of a bay trotting horse pulling sulky and driver.
Description
A color print of a bay horse pulling a sulky and jockey on a track. His equipment is designed for speed. The jockey wears a jacket, white shirt, long pants, and billed cap. A grassy pasture with pond and trees borders the track, with low hills in the distance.
Rarus was bred by R.B. Conklin upon his retirement in New York in the early 1800s. His dam was called Nancy Awful because she had terrible tantrums, but Conklin bred her to Rysdyk’s Hambletonian to produce a stunning bay trotting prospect. Rarus was marked as a future champion from birth, and Conklin gave him an over-abundance of attention compared to the other horses on the farm. In his first practice race at age three, Rarus trotted the mile in three minutes. Rarus won his first scrub race at age six under the training of James Meade on August 21, 1874 in Long Island, winning a purse of $800. He was then transferred to Brooklyn to train under James Page and lowered his record to 2:28 ½ in one season. His early rival, Kansas Chief, was a former cowpony, and the two went back and forth in winnings for two seasons before Conklin changed Rarus’ driver to John Splan. Rarus was then entered in the Grand Circuit, where he won continuously for two years. Conklin continually turned down offers for the horse up to $45,000 because he believed the same amount of money could be won in purses. Rarus was hailed as “King of the Turf” for a short time after beating Goldsmith Maid’s on August 3, 1878 in Buffalo. His time, 2:13 1/4, was promoted as the “Greatest Achievement on Record.” Z.E. Simmons finally purchased Rarus for $36,000, but the sale was poorly timed. Because it was to take place before an exhibition, track officials were furious and banned both Rarus and Conklin from all tracks forever. With no choice, Simmons sent Rarus to Robert Bonner’s farm. Rarus was eventually inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1978 as an “Immortal.”
This print while undated, references the election of 1828 between incumbent John Quincy Adams and war hero, Andrew Jackson. Political attacks greatly relied on character assassination during this election, and that is depicted in this print. Philadelphia Democratic Press editor John Binns, published the coffin handbill, alleging that six militia men were ordered executed by Andrew Jackson due to enlistment disputes following the War of 1812. Binns circulated thousands of these handbills in his paper, with the original version titled “Monumental Inscriptions!” depicting six black coffins labeled with the soldiers’ names and alleged infraction. The publication of this handbill proved disatorous for Binns, and he was forced to stop printing it after angry mobs threatened to carry him about town in a coffin. In this print, Binns is depicted carrying the burden eight large coffins as well as incumbent president John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay on his back. Adams and Clay were opponents and foes of Jackson, given what he and many Americans saw as a corrupt deal following the election of 1824. Jackson won the popular vote in that election, but due to electoral college discrepancies it went to the House of Representatives to decide, where Clay cast the deciding vote for Adams if he was promised the role of Secretary of State. In this print Adams and Clay are balanced precariously a top the coffins, with Adams stretching to reach the presidential chair topped with an eagle baring a patriotic shield. Clay realizes that he like Binns, is collapsing under the weight of the coffins, but begs Adams to hold on. Adams and Clay both suffered defeat when Jackson won the election and secured his place as president. One can infer that the two additional coffins carried by Binns were likely meant to be seen as for the Adams and Clay.
This print while undated, references the election of 1828 between incumbent John Quincy Adams and war hero, Andrew Jackson. Political attacks greatly relied on character assassination during this election, and that is depicted in this print. Philadelphia Democratic Press editor John Binns, published the coffin handbill, alleging that six militia men were ordered executed by Andrew Jackson due to enlistment disputes following the War of 1812. Binns circulated thousands of these handbills in his paper, with the original version titled “Monumental Inscriptions!” depicting six black coffins labeled with the soldiers’ names and alleged infraction. The publication of this handbill proved disatorous for Binns, and he was forced to stop printing it after angry mobs threatened to carry him about town in a coffin. In this print, Binns is depicted carrying the burden eight large coffins as well as incumbent president John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay on his back. Adams and Clay were opponents and foes of Jackson, given what he and many Americans saw as a corrupt deal following the election of 1824. Jackson won the popular vote in that election, but due to electoral college discrepancies it went to the House of Representatives to decide, where Clay cast the deciding vote for Adams if he was promised the role of Secretary of State. In this print Adams and Clay are balanced precariously a top the coffins, with Adams stretching to reach the presidential chair topped with an eagle baring a patriotic shield. Clay realizes that he like Binns, is collapsing under the weight of the coffins, but begs Adams to hold on. Adams and Clay both suffered defeat when Jackson won the election and secured his place as president. One can infer that the two additional coffins carried by Binns were likely meant to be seen as for the Adams and Clay.
A color print of a galloping horse and jockey. It is black with a white nose and rear stockings.
Longfellow was bred in 1867 by John Harper on Nantura Stock Farm in Midway, Kentucky. Harper also owned the famous sires Lexington and Glencoe. Longfellow’s sire was Leamington and his dam was Nantura. At 17.0 hands, he was an above-average height for a racer, so Harper had to postpone his training until the colt grew into his size. Harper claimed he named the horse after his long legs. His racing career began when Longfellow turned 3. The beginning of Longfellow’s racing career was marked by several unfortunate events. He lost his first race, and then in 1871 before a match Harper’s siblings were murdered at his estate by a jealous nephew. Harper would have been killed as well, had he not been sleeping in Longfellow’s stall. After this event, Longfellow’s career began to accelerate, and he won 13 of his 16 starts in 1871, frequenting the tracks at Monmouth and Saratoga. Longfellow eventually earned the name “King of the Turf.” The match against Harry Bassett took place in Longfellow’s last season in the Monmouth Cup of 1872 where they were the only two horses entered. Longfellow beat Harry Bassett by over 100 yards. They met again in the Saratoga Cup, but at the start Longfellow twisted his foot. He managed to catch up to Harry Bassett and only lost by a length, but it was the last race of his racing career. His total earnings amounted to $11,200. At stud, Longfellow sired two Kentucky Derby winners and became the leading sire of 1891. Longfellow died on November 5, 1893 at age 26 and his grave was the second grave in Kentucky to be erected for a racehorse. Longfellow was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1971.
Haskell and Allen’s most memorable productions were their horse prints. A Boston based lithograph publisher, the firm seems to have issued more large folio images than small. Haskell began as a print seller with Haskell and Ripley (1868) but a year later in 1869 he began a partnership with George Allen. In 1873 they moved to 61 Hanover St in Boston where they did well until they went bankrupt in 1878.
General Ulysses S. Grant, was born Hiram Ulysses Grant at Point Pleasant, Ohio, in 1822. After attending West Point, he gained distinction fighting as a captain in the Mexican-American War. When the fighting ended, he was assigned to isolated frontier posts, where his heavy drinking interfered with his duties, leading him to resign in 1854. At the outbreak of the Civil War six years later, he immediately enlisted in the Union Army, and was promoted to brigadier general in July of 1861. In July of 1863, he captured Vicksburg, an event often seen as a turning point in the war, and was given command of all Union armies in March of 1864. Brutal engagements with Confederate forces at the battles of Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor decimated Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and the Virginian surrendered his battered force to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. After the war, Grant’s fame carried him to the White House, and he served two terms of Presidency, from 1869 to 1877.
This 1884 print by Christian Inger shows Grant, surrounded by his generals at a council of war in Massaponax, Virginia, shortly his promotion to general-in-chief. The men sit on church pews removed from the nearby Baptist church. Grants sits at the base of two trees, easily recognizable by the characteristic cloud of cigar smoke rising above him. The other generals are identified by a list on the bottom margin of the print, and include Sherman, Hancock, and Meade. Behind the men, Union soldiers care for the officers’ horses, and rows of cannons are displayed in the far background, ready for transport.
This print was based on a photograph by Timothy H. O’Sullivan (1840-1882), who managed to capture the composition from the second floor of the nearby Massaponax Baptist Church. His image was printed by Scottish-born photograph Alexander Gardner (1821-1882).
The creator of the print, Christian Inger (1814-c.1895), was born in Germany and immigrated to America in 1854. He settled in Philadelphia, where he was employed by P.S. Duval from the mid-1850s to the mid-1860s. Between the 1850s and 1870s, Inger also created lithographs for the prominent firms of Herline & Hensel and Thomas Sinclair. In 1859, he also established his own firm with his son, Egmont. Inger’s work included portraits, facsimiles of paintings, Revolutionary War and Civil War scenes, and birds-eye views of Philadelphia and the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
Between the 16th and 20th of September, 1861, Federal and Confederate forces clashed in the town of Lexington, Missouri, as part of a larger effort to control the state. Following up on their victory at the earlier Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Confederate troops forced their Union adversaries to surrender, employing mobile breastworks made of hemp to provide protection as they advanced on the Federal position around the Anderson House.
This print depicts a scene of the battle from behind the Union position. On the left, Federal soldiers dressed in blue and red uniforms man a battery, while infantrymen to their right fire rifle at the Confederate forces. Through breaks in the smoke created by the Union weaponry, Confederate flags and battle lines are visible. In the foreground, a horse and its rider both lie dead and two wounded Union soldiers receive medical treatment. In the lower right corner, a mounted Union officer arrives with more infantrymen. Although the Confederates ultimately won the day, a large American remains upright, dominating the scene.
This piece was designed by the Hartford, Connecticut lithographic firm of E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. Edmund Burke Kellogg and Elijah Chapman Kellogg were younger brothers of the founder of the Kellogg lithography firm, Daniel Wright Kellogg. After Daniel Wright Kellogg moved west, his two brothers took over the family lithography firm in 1840 and changed the name to E.B. & E.C. Kellogg. They were responsible for the continued success of the family firm and involved in partnerships with Horace Thayer in 1845/1846, John Chenevard Comstock in 1848 and William Henry Bulkeley in 1867.
It was published by Phelps and Watson, a partnership of Humphrey Phelps and his nephew, Gaylord Watson. Their New York firm published maps and lithographic prints and co-published many E.B. & E.E. Kellogg prints during the Civil War. The print was distributed by Frank P. Whiting, the son of the Kellogg’s New York-based co-publisher, George Whiting. Frank Whiting took over his father’s business after his death in 1862. He stopped selling Kellogg prints in 1866, and, in 1868, he partnered with his brother, Arthur, and formed the art dealership of Whiting Brothers.
This print by John Henry Bufford shows the Army of the Potomac at the conclusion of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. General McClellan had intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862, but after a series of engagements with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Seven Days Battle, he withdrew to the James River, 20 miles from Richmond. Lincoln then called for the Army of the Potomac to return to Washington, D.C. The failure of the Peninsula Campaign crushed the morale of Union forces, who believed the capture of the Confederate capital would bring about an end to the fighting.
In the background of this print, long trains of covered wagons and troops of the Army of the Potomac retreat from Chickahominy to the James River. In the foreground, some soldiers cross Bear Creek while others rest on its banks. General George McClellan is visible at the bottom of the print on a white horse, looking out upon the withdrawal of his forces. This print is identical to another by Bufford, which has the less cynical title – “The Army of the Potomac.”
This print was published by the lithographer John Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894) was born in New Hampshire and began his career as a portrait and landscape painter. During the Civil War, he accompanied the Union Army and made sketches from 1861 to 1863, and worked as a print publisher in Boston from 1863 to 1865. Union officers often commented on the accuracy of his artwork. He documented scenes of the War, particularly at Gettysburg and created a guidebook to the battle in 1873. From 1883 to 1887 he served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, during which time he wrote a detailed history of Gettysburg from the Union perspective.
This print by John Henry Bufford shows the Army of the Potomac at the conclusion of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. General McClellan had intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the summer of 1862, but after a series of engagements with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in the Seven Days Battle, he withdrew to the James River, 20 miles from Richmond. Lincoln then called for the Army of the Potomac to return to Washington, D.C. The failure of the Peninsula Campaign crushed the morale of Union forces, who believed the capture of the Confederate capital would bring about an end to the fighting.
In the background of this print, long trains of covered wagons and troops of the Army of the Potomac retreat from Chickahominy to the James River. In the foreground, some soldiers cross Bear Creek while others rest on its banks. General George McClellan is visible at the bottom of the print on a white horse, looking out upon the withdrawal of his forces. This print is identical to another by Bufford, which has the more cynical title – “The Retreat.”
This print was published by the lithographer John Henry Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894) was born in New Hampshire and began his career as a portrait and landscape painter. During the Civil War, he accompanied the Union Army and made sketches from 1861 to 1863, and worked as a print publisher in Boston from 1863 to 1865. Union officers often commented on the accuracy of his artwork. He documented scenes of the War, particularly at Gettysburg and created a guidebook to the battle in 1873. From 1883 to 1887 he served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association, during which time he wrote a detailed history of Gettysburg from the Union perspective.
Color print of the yard in front of a carriage shed. Two horses hitched to sulkies stand on either side of a large carriage pulled by two horse. A dog and three men on horseback are in the right foreground. Advertisement for Brewster & Co., manufacturer of carriages.
Description
A color print of yard in front of a white shed with sign: “Hiram Woodruff.” There is a stir of activity as horses are hitched to sulkies. Men ride up on horseback, and two men in formal attire ride out of yard in open buggy with a high dashboard and low wheels, drawn by two horses. Dogs are underfoot. A black stable boy tends a horse. A portion of a white frame farmhouse seen to the right, with trees and grass in the distance.
Known as one of the leading lithography firms of the mid-19th Century, Endicott and Company was formed in 1852 as the successor to William Endicott and Company following the death of George Endicott in 1848 and William Endicott in 1852. The original partners of Endicott and Company were Sarah Endicott (William’s widow) and Charles mills. However, in 1853 the senior partner was Sarah and William’s son Frances Endicott. The company often did work for Currier and Ives and employed the well-known artist Charles Pearson. In 1856 the company was awarded a diploma for the best specimen of lithography at the 28th Annual Fair of the American Institute.
This 1836 print is a response to President Andrew Jackson’s mission to claim the twenty five million francs owed to the United States as payment for French spoliation during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). During the Napoleonic Wars (1803 to 1815), France, ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, and their allies, engaged in a series of major conflicts as an extension of the French Revolution. The main target of these conflicts was Great Britain and their allies, but American merchant ships were often damaged by the French Navy. Negotiations to ratify these marine losses began during the war, but rather than helping, they are partially to blame for the War of 1812 as they aggravated the British. Dealings with France regarding this issue were at a stalemate, but early in his first term Jackson proposed the Franco-American Treaty of 1831, calling for France to pay twenty five million francs to the United States to cover the spoliation claims from American merchants. France led by King Louis Phillipe paid European claims, but ignored those of the United States. This angered Jackson, and he threatened military intervention if France did not pay. The threats frustrated France, but they agreed to pay if Jackson apologized. When he refused, payment was again taken off the table. In this print, King Louis is represented by a crow wearing a crown, and Jackson is personified as an eagle perched over a nest of eaglets tucked in an American flag. They are exchanging words across the Atlantic Ocean. Jackson threatens damage to France if King Louis doesn’t “pay the Debt you justly owe,” and Louis retorts that he will only pay if Jackson apologizes. In the middle of the print, is “John Bull,” the personification of Great Britain, crossing the Atlantic “to baulk the cock of all his boasted pride and Eagle’s passion to subside.” In 1836, Jackson finally conceded to France’s desire for an apology, and Great Britain stepped in to help negotiate payment between the United States and France.
The lithographer of this print is Desobry Prosper. He was active in New York from 1824 to 1844, working with the Chanou and Desobry.
This political cartoon appeared during the 1856 presidential election and takes a vehement stance against the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Designed to open these territories to settlement, this act employed the doctrine of popular sovereignty to allow the people living in Kansas and Nebraska to vote these states into the Union as either slave or free. This resulted in the outbreak of violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the Kansas Territory, earning it the nickname “Bleeding Kansas.” This print depicts scenes of violence by pro-slavery “border ruffians” from Missouri who have crossed into Kansas against the free-soil settlers living there. In the foreground, leading figures of the Democratic Party are depicted as border ruffians. The personification of “Liberty, the Fair Maid of Kansas,” wears a Phrygian cap and a cape made of the American flag, and occupies the center of the illustration. Kneeling on the ground before Franklin Pierce, under whose presidency the Act had been passed. As he stands over her, with his foot on her cape, she begs him, “O spare me gentlemen, spare me!!” Pierce, shown heavily armed and drinking from a bottle, drunkenly guarantees her safety. To their right, Lewis Cass, a Democratic Senator from Michigan, leers at Liberty and sarcastically agrees with Pierce that she will be unharmed. On the right, Stephen Douglas scalps an anti-slavery settler. Douglas had designed the Act, hoping that the settlement of the western territories would allow for the construction of a transcontinental railroad. To the left of Pierce, presidential hopeful, James Buchanan, and William Marcy, Pierce’s Secretary of State, loot the body of a killed free-soiler. Marcy’s trousers are damaged and marked with “50 cts,” referring to a joke used by his political enemies. When serving as an associate justice for the Supreme Court of New York, he had used state funds to repair his pants. In the background, various scenes of violence perpetrated by the border ruffians are exhibited. Although there was actual violence in “Bleeding Kansas,” the imagery of theft and abduction in this print speaks to the possession of pro-slavery ideology over the virgin lands of Kansas.
This print is attributed to John L. Magee, who was born in New York around 1820. In New York, he was employed by the lithographic firms of James Baillie and Nathaniel Currier. He started his own business in New York in 1850, but moved to Philadelphia sometime shortly after 1852. He was known for his political cartoons, which he produced until the 1860s.