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The Fall of Richmond, Virginia, on the Night of April 2nd, 1865

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts | CC0 1.0

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Date

1865

Artist

Published by Currier & Ives (1857-1907)

Collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image Link

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/380478

Description

The Confederacy’s capital of Richmond was a chief distribution center for weapons, supplies, and troops, and the city resisted repeated Union assaults before officially capitulating on April 3, 1865. Once Ulysses S. Grant had taken nearby Petersburg, President Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet evacuated Richmond by rail, instructing Confederate soldiers to set fire to warehouses and bridges as they left. The flames spread unchecked and devastated the city before being extinguished by Northern troops. Currier & Ives’s lithograph shows soldiers and residents crossing the Mayo Bridge over the James River, as storehouses burn and munitions explode in the background. The columned portico of the Confederate Capitol is illuminated by the flames, and reflections in the river double the fires’ visual impact. Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad visited the smoldering city on April 4th. Then, the following week, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox and Lincoln was assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer. The apocalyptic imagery here presages that dire chain of events. Medium: hand-coloured lithograph.

Image Licence

CC0 1.0

Image Credit

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts

Location

Richmond, Virginia, USA

Country

Medium

Tags

Battles
Bridges
Historical Events
Military
Townscapes

Category

People & Society

Glossary
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© 2024 Watercolour World | Technology by The Museum Platform