 |
Back to Water
Color Sketchbook by Private Henry Berckhoff
Sketches About
Camp Life
Henry Berckhoff used his experiences
as a private in the Eighth New York Volunteer Infantry to create
these paintings. Unlike the drawings in part one, which convey
the great strength of the North's military effort during the Civil
War, the images in this section are of a more personal and solitary
nature. Here soldiers camp out in a thunderstorm, a lone man patrols
the bank of the Potomac River, and another stands in the snow
guarding a bridge. We see soldiers washing their clothes (and
themselves), polishing their boots, cooking meals, and splitting
firewood. There is a poignancy in the ordinary details of these
wartime scenes: A mirror is hung from a tree so a soldier can
carefully comb his hair; pots and pans are arranged for cooking;
a tree stump is used as a chair.
|
|
|
Bivouac on the Potomac
River Near Alexandria, Va., August 1861.
GLC 6106 p.2.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Camp at Roche's Mill,
August 1861.
GLC 6106 p.4.
The Gilder Lehrman Collection,
on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Building Fort Blenker,
September 1861.
GLC 6106 p.5.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Morning Scene at Camp
Hunter's Chappel, October 1861.
GLC 6106 p.6.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Crossing the Shenandoah
River on Pontoons at Berryville,
17 April 1862.
GLC 6106 p.9.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
imag
|
| |
|
|
|
Crossing the Upper Potomac
near Franklin, 13 May 1862.
GLC 6106 p.10.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Passing the Hanging
Rocks Gap near Romney, 3 May 1862.
GLC 6106 p.11.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Bridge building at New
Market, 5 June 1862.
GLC 6106 p.12.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Railroad Guard near
Brooks Station, February 1863.
GLC 6106 p.17.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
|
Bivouac at Dumfries,
13 December 1862.
GLC 6106 p.18.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
Homeward Bound, Hop's
Landing on the Aquia Creek, 3 May 1863.
GLC 6106 p.19.
The Gilder Lehrman
Collection, on deposit at the Piermont Morgan Library.
|
|
Large
image
|
| |
|
|
