Wachposten am Potomac Creek
1863
Edwin Forbes captured this quiet moment on March 13, 1863, while working as a sketch artist for the Union Army during the Civil War. Rather than depicting glorious battles, he documented the boring reality of a 'picket station'—soldiers standing guard in the freezing cold along Potomac Creek. The frantic handwriting at the bottom is a treasure trove of color notes, describing the 'grey blue' sky and 'burnish red' earth, proving this was a field study meant to be turned into a finished etching later.
- Technique
- charcoal and graphite
- Material
- paper
Views: 5