Alfred R. Waud

Armed with a pencil and a sketchbook, artist-correspondent Alfred Waud created an incomparable record of the Civil War with his illustrations for two of the nation’s leading newsweeklies. Working first for the New York Illustrated News (1860–61) and then for Harper’s Weekly, Waud accompanied the Army of the Potomac on all its major campaigns, from its defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run (1861) to its victory at the siege of Petersburg (1865). At a time when technical limitations made combat photography impractical, Waud produced highly detailed sketches that captured all the fury and chaos of the battlefield.