Union Cavalry

Winslow Homer Civil War Art:

The Union Cavalry Charge

This image is from the May 17, 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly.  I do not find Homer's signature on the illustration, but the caption attributes it to him.  The illustration is captioned, "The Union Cavalry and Artillery Starting in Pursuit of the Rebels up the Yorktown Turnpike - Sketched by Mr. W. Homer." The sketch, while somewhat hurried, reveals an amazing amount of historic content.

May 17, 1862 - The Union Cavalry (Click on Image for Enlarged view)

The Cavalry soldiers appear to be well equipped, well trained, and in full speed charge. Several of the horses are branded "US", so their is no doubt which side these men are fighting on. 

Of note, if you click on the illustration for a larger view, and look closely in the sky near the horizon, you will actually see a Civil War hot air balloon being used as a reconnaissance aide. While not mentioned in the caption, it is clear that the small image represents a hot air balloon, which had been used for the first time in combat in the Civil War.

 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.