After dress parade.
1876
Step inside a cramped Civil War barracks where the chaos of battle has been replaced by the quiet boredom of downtime. Edwin Forbes captures the mundane reality of soldier life in this 1876 etching, showing men lounging on bunk beds, reading newspapers, and leaning against a stone stove after their formal inspection. Forbes, who sketched scenes directly from the field for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, wanted to show the 'real' war—the waiting, the reading, and the waiting some more. It’s a slice of history that feels less like a grand heroic moment and more like a Tuesday afternoon in a cabin.
- Technique
- Etching
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