Painting: “Capture of Ricketts’ Battery”

In 1964 Manassas National Battlefield Park commissioned Caroline County, Virginia artist Sidney E. King (1906-2002) to paint a mural intended for an outdoor interpretive display on Henry Hill depicting the destruction of Battery I, 1st US Artillery under the command of Captain James B. Ricketts. This event, which occurred around 3 p.m. on July 21, 1861, was a decisive turning point in the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). King, a prolific painter of outdoor works at many National Park sites, based his painting on a wartime sketch by noted Civil War artist Alfred R. Waud and it has since become an iconic image of the battle. By 1981 the painting was considered too valuable to remain outdoors and it was accessioned into the park's museum collection. It now greets visitors in the lobby of the park visitor center.