Original Pen and Ink Drawing: Marines & Barracks (Washington, D.C.) 1861.

(CIVIL WAR) DAVIS, Theodore R.  Original Pen and Ink Drawing: Marines & Barracks (Washington, D.C.) 1861.                                  

Washington: 1861. Original pen and ink drawing on paper (9 1/4 x 10 3/4 inches.)

The original drawing was made by Theodore R. Davis (1840-1894) at the beginning of the Civil War.  It shows five marines outside the marine barracks in Washington, D.C.  It is thought to be the only image of the building that was made during the war, and is featured in The American Heritage Century Collection of Civil War Art, edited by Stephen W. Sears (plate number 40).  Davis was a noted artist-correspondent for Harper's Weekly during the war.  He was sent into the South with the British correspondent for the London Times  William H. Russell, which helped protect him in hostile territory assuming a position as Russell's assistant.  Throughout the war he covered many battles and events including the Battle of Champion Hill; he sketched General Joseph E. Johnston and General William T. Sherman meeting at the Bennet Farm near Durham Station to discuss the surrender terms of the remaining Confederate armies in the Southeast.  He was often in the center of the action, especially when he traveled with General Grant's staff at the Vicksburg campaign and was part of General Sherman's March-to-the-Sea.  His first-hand experiences during the Civil War made him a major contributor to the articles and illustrations used in Harper's Weekly.  After the war Davis produced more finished paintings of Civil War scenes and was consulted on the Cyclorama in Atlanta, where he was asked for his ideas having traveled with Sherman's Army.  In retirement he wrote a treatise titled, How a Battle is Sketched (1889), where is relates the hazardous and inventive ways that pictorial journalists reported the Civil War.  Old tear in upper corner repaired.

 

  $1,800.00