Winslow Homer: Soldiers on Picket Duty

Winslow Homer Civil War Art:

Thanksgiving in Camp

Winslow Homer finished out the year 1862 with this illustration, which appeared in the November 29, 1862 edition of Harper's Weekly. The image is captioned, "Thanksgiving in Camp".  It presents an impressive image of soldiers enjoying the day.  They appear in front of the "Sutler's Tent", so no doubt the soldiers have spent some of their money.  The

November 29, 1862- Thanksgiving in Camp (Click on Image for Enlarged View)

The Sutler's tent has signs advertising Pies, Herrings, and Cider. One soldier has his head tipped back, enjoying the cider.  Another soldier appears as if he has had a little too much cider.  Yet another appears to be enjoying one of the Herring.  A nice camp fire is going in the foreground.  Other soldiers appear to be relaxing, and just enjoying the day.

This is a typical Homer print, showing some of the more common issues of day to day life in the Civil War. The illustration has Homer's signature in the lower right.

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.