Long Bridge over the Potomac

Winslow Homer Civil War Art:

Long Bridge over the Potomac

The illustration at right is a Winslow Homer print of the Long Bridge over the Potomac.  It is from the June 8, 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly.  The illustration is captioned, "The Advance Guard of the Grand Army of the United States Crossing the Long Bridge over the Potomac at 2:00 AM on May 24. This is a striking image of the Union Army, on its way to war.

June 8, 1861 - Long Bridge over the Potomac

This illustration shows several unmistakable examples of Winslow Homer's illustration style.  Notice the heavy reliance on parallel lines to create the image of tonal variations in the Black and White drawing.  Also, notice how prominently the soldiers bayonets become in the overall image.  As the war progresses, the bayonets become ever more prevalent in Homer's illustrations.

A Note to our Readers

We acquired the images above for the purpose of digitally persevering them on this site for all to enjoy.  With the digital archive complete, we are making the original, 140 year old illustrations available for purchase.  By selling these original illustrations, we are able to acquire more material to archive on this site.  If you are interested in purchasing one of the original Harper's Weekly leafs on this page, contact paul@sonofthesouth.net The leafs are available for a price of $250 a piece, and the proceeds will go to continue to expand the resources on this site.