A Battle as seen by the Reserve
date: 1862
artist: Thomas Nast
double page wood engraving – matted
depicts the mixture of boredom and terror of troops behind the line as they witness primitive surgery
condition: good
source: Harper’s Weekly
14 x 20 ½″ mat 18 x 24″
The cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840 – 1902) came to the U.S. from Germany as a young child. After working at Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper from the age of fifteen, he moved to Harper’s Weekly in 1862. His satirical sketches were a popular feature at Harper’s and he came to be considered “the father of the American political cartoon”. During the Civil War his sketches were appreciated by President Lincoln as helping recruitment to the Union cause.