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Civil War Soldier & Illustrator Charles Wellington Reed Illustrations and Papers
Civil War Soldier & Illustrator Charles Wellington Reed Illustrations and Papers
1,924 pages of Charles Wellington Reed (1841-1926) papers, mostly dating from 1862 to 1865. Reed was born into a wealthy Boston family. While attending private schools he studied art. Most of the material in this collection was gathered from the Charles Wellington Reed Papers at the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Reed was an artist and soldier in the Ninth Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery (Bigelow's Battery). In November 1864 he was transferred to the Topographical Engineers, Fifth Army Corps and served as an assistant to the topographical engineer under General Gouverneur K. Warren at V Corps headquarters.
Reed participated in many battles of the Civil War including Mine Run, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, and Weldon Railroad. In 1895 he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery on the battlefield at Gettysburg. Reed was present at Appomattox, Virginia and witnessed the surrender of Confederate forces to General Ulysses S. Grant. During his service, Reed filled two large sketch books and included hundreds of drawings in letters to his family.
This collection reproduces approximately 700 of Reed's sketches previously bound in two volumes plus correspondence containing illustrations relating primarily to his experiences in the Civil War. Reed's papers include articles, citations, military papers, clippings, diary, maps, Reed's Medals of Honor, photographs, and printed matter. The two volumes of sketches include drawings of army life during the Civil War, some drawn during actual combat. Others are of landscapes, animals, and other studies.
Many letters written by Reed, particularly those to his mother and sister, give details about his role as chief bugler of his battery in the Ninth Independent Battery. Reed often began the letters with a drawing that illustrated military life, including the rigors of a private, but also amusing and mundane aspects of military life. Topics covered in the illustrations include soldiers adapting to seasonal changes in the weather, how they amused themselves, and the routines of camp life.
According to Shawn Connery of the Army Heritage and Education Center, "It is through these letters and sketches that future generations are granted an extraordinary glimpse into the daily life of this individual soldier."
After the war he illustrated several Civil War books, notably Hardtack and Coffee (1887) by John Billings.
Charles Wellington Reed received the Medal of Honor in 1895 for gallantry in action on July 2, 1863, during the battle of Gettysburg. Despite sustained firing on his position near the Trostle Farm, Reed mounted his horse and led to safety another mount carrying the wounded Captain John Bigelow, thereby saving Bigelow's life. In June 1895, John Bigelow wrote to the adjutant general of the United States, recommending Reed for the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.
Lt. Reed described his war experiences in numerous letters to his family. However, his words did not reveal nearly as much about the average soldier's everyday life as did his drawings, which appeared both in letters and in two large sketch books. What Reed could not say, he drew, and obviously, the drawings speak volumes. His sketch of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) visiting the Army of the Potomac during the Petersburg-Richmond Campaign, for example, captures the president's physical appearance, including his clothing and facial features, his respect for common soldiers, and the effect of his presence on the rank and file.
Charles Wellington Reed's pencil sketch of Abraham Lincoln at City Point, Virginia, 1865
C. W. Reed to mother, October 12, 1862
C. W. Reed to mother. 11-3-1862
C. W. Reed to Helen Reed Tilton, 1-9-1863
C. W. Reed, sketch of Peach Orchard at Gettysburg, July 2,1863
C. W. Reed to mother. August 11 [13], 1863
C. W. Reed, Plan of the Gettysburg Battle Ground (1864)
1865-01-12 C. W. Reed to Helen Reed Tilton, January 12, 1865
1887-XX-XX C. W. Reed, 'As you were' in 65,' ca. 1887
Undated C. W. Reed, watercolor of Union soldier in 5th Corps
Undated C. W. Reed, sketchbook illustration of march
Undated Draft sketch for Hardtack and Coffee
1,924 pages of Charles Wellington Reed (1841-1926) papers, mostly dating from 1862 to 1865. Reed was born into a wealthy Boston family. While attending private schools he studied art. Most of the material in this collection was gathered from the Charles Wellington Reed Papers at the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Reed was an artist and soldier in the Ninth Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery (Bigelow's Battery). In November 1864 he was transferred to the Topographical Engineers, Fifth Army Corps and served as an assistant to the topographical engineer under General Gouverneur K. Warren at V Corps headquarters.
Reed participated in many battles of the Civil War including Mine Run, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, and Weldon Railroad. In 1895 he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery on the battlefield at Gettysburg. Reed was present at Appomattox, Virginia and witnessed the surrender of Confederate forces to General Ulysses S. Grant. During his service, Reed filled two large sketch books and included hundreds of drawings in letters to his family.
This collection reproduces approximately 700 of Reed's sketches previously bound in two volumes plus correspondence containing illustrations relating primarily to his experiences in the Civil War. Reed's papers include articles, citations, military papers, clippings, diary, maps, Reed's Medals of Honor, photographs, and printed matter. The two volumes of sketches include drawings of army life during the Civil War, some drawn during actual combat. Others are of landscapes, animals, and other studies.
Many letters written by Reed, particularly those to his mother and sister, give details about his role as chief bugler of his battery in the Ninth Independent Battery. Reed often began the letters with a drawing that illustrated military life, including the rigors of a private, but also amusing and mundane aspects of military life. Topics covered in the illustrations include soldiers adapting to seasonal changes in the weather, how they amused themselves, and the routines of camp life.
According to Shawn Connery of the Army Heritage and Education Center, "It is through these letters and sketches that future generations are granted an extraordinary glimpse into the daily life of this individual soldier."
After the war he illustrated several Civil War books, notably Hardtack and Coffee (1887) by John Billings.
Charles Wellington Reed received the Medal of Honor in 1895 for gallantry in action on July 2, 1863, during the battle of Gettysburg. Despite sustained firing on his position near the Trostle Farm, Reed mounted his horse and led to safety another mount carrying the wounded Captain John Bigelow, thereby saving Bigelow's life. In June 1895, John Bigelow wrote to the adjutant general of the United States, recommending Reed for the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.
Lt. Reed described his war experiences in numerous letters to his family. However, his words did not reveal nearly as much about the average soldier's everyday life as did his drawings, which appeared both in letters and in two large sketch books. What Reed could not say, he drew, and obviously, the drawings speak volumes. His sketch of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) visiting the Army of the Potomac during the Petersburg-Richmond Campaign, for example, captures the president's physical appearance, including his clothing and facial features, his respect for common soldiers, and the effect of his presence on the rank and file.
Charles Wellington Reed's pencil sketch of Abraham Lincoln at City Point, Virginia, 1865
C. W. Reed to mother, October 12, 1862
C. W. Reed to mother. 11-3-1862
C. W. Reed to Helen Reed Tilton, 1-9-1863
C. W. Reed, sketch of Peach Orchard at Gettysburg, July 2,1863
C. W. Reed to mother. August 11 [13], 1863
C. W. Reed, Plan of the Gettysburg Battle Ground (1864)
1865-01-12 C. W. Reed to Helen Reed Tilton, January 12, 1865
1887-XX-XX C. W. Reed, 'As you were' in 65,' ca. 1887
Undated C. W. Reed, watercolor of Union soldier in 5th Corps
Undated C. W. Reed, sketchbook illustration of march
Undated Draft sketch for Hardtack and Coffee
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