The image shows a number
of interesting scenes associated with the press during the time of the Civil
War. The picture gives the inside scoop on the operation of both the
Civil War Illustrator, and the Civil War Correspondent. The central
image shows a correspondent interviewing soldiers, just out of a battle.
The smoke and confusion of the still raging battle can be seen in the
background. Also pictures is an artist on horseback, sketching the
scenes of battle.
The upper left is an image
of a man with a beard, and a sketch pad. The image is captioned, "Our
Artist", and this image is believed to be a self-portrait by Thomas Nast.
The various drawings on the top of the leaf show the artist and
correspondent in the field. They can be seen in the midst of battle,
hunkered down and they capture in words and drawings every thing that is
going on around them.
The center left image is
captioned "Contraband News", and shows the correspondent interviewing
emancipated slaves. An old black man is seen telling his story, along
side two women and three children. This is undoubtedly a story of
slavery, escape, and then freedom. The black man appears very animated
as he tells his story. As the correspondent records his words, an
artist is seen standing to the side capturing the scene in his sketch pad.
To the right, the central
image is captioned "Reliable Information, and shows the correspondent
interviewing another man. In this case, the sketch artist has his back
turned and is not drawing the scene.
The lower central inset
image shows a drawing of Thomas Nast's Civil War sketch book. It can
be seen that he carried a large sketch book, had a ribbon that could tie it
closed. The final two inset images are on the bottom in the left and
right corners. These show the fruits of the labor of the illustrator
and the correspondent. In the left corner, an eager family is seen
reading the news of the war. In the lower right corner, soldiers in a
Civil War camp can be seen reading the pages of Harper's Weekly for news of
the war.
This is a fascinating
image of the work of Thomas Nast and other artists during the Civil war. |