General U.S. Grant’s war horse
1869
Edwin Forbes, famous for his gritty Civil War sketches, captured this noble steed directly from life in Washington D.C. in 1869. The horse belonged to General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union Army commander who would soon become president. Forbes was an official artist for the Army of the Potomac, known for his quick, on-the-spot drawings, and this later sketch shows his continued dedication to capturing animals with anatomical precision. That brownish blotch on the horse's flank isn't a wound—it's just age showing through the paper, adding a touch of historical character to this realistic portrait.
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