Alfred Waud

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Alfred Waud (photograph by Timothy H. O'Sullivan).

Sketch of the Battle of Middleburg, June 19, 1863.

Alfred Rudolph Waud (wōd) (October 2, 1828 - April 6, 1891) was an American artist and illustrator, born in London, England.

Before emigration, he had entered the Government School of Design at Somerset House, London, with the intention of becoming a marine painter. This did not come to fruition, but as a student, he also worked as a painter of theatrical scenery. He intended to pursue that work in the United States, when he immigrated in 1850, seeking employment with actor and playwright John Brougham. In the 1850s, he worked variously as an illustrator for a Boston periodical, the Carpet-Bag, and provided illustrations for books such as Hunter's Panoramic Guide from Niagara to Quebec (1857).

Waud became an illustrator for the New York Illustrated News in 1860. In April 1861, the newspaper assigned Waud to cover the Army of the Potomac, Virginia's main Union army. He first illustrated General Winfield Scott in Washington, D.C., then entered the field to render the First Battle of Bull Run in July. Waud followed a Union expedition to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina the next month. That autumn, he sketched army activity in the Tidewater region of Virginia.

Waud joined Harper's Weekly toward the end of 1861, continuing to cover the Civil War. Publication of photos was not possible at this time, so there were a staff of engravers at Harper's dedicated to turning sketches into finished engravings for publication. In the field, Waud would make rough but accurate sketches—and could get closer to the battle than photographers, who were encumbered by equipment—and rush them by courier to the Harper's New York office. Such was the method by which an American readership was exposed to the scenes of the battlefield.

Waud attended every battle of the Army of the Potomac between the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 and the Siege of Petersburg in 1865. He was one of only two artists present at the Battle of Gettysburg. His depiction of Pickett's Charge is thought to be the only visual account by an eyewitness.

Waud died in 1891 in Marietta, Georgia, while touring battlefields of the South.

[edit] Gallery

Battle of Aquia Creek, May 29 - June 1, 1861	Battle of Big Bethel, June 10, 1861	Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries, August 28-29, 1861	Battle of Yorktown, April 5 to May 4, 1862
Battle of Hanover Courthouse, May 27, 1862	Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, June 26, 1862	Battle of Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1862	Battle of Glendale, June 30, 1862
Battle of Shepherdstown, September 19–20, 1862	Battle of Fredericksburg II, May 3, 1863	Battle of Monocacy Junction, July 9, 1864	Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864