The Blue and the Grey: The American Civil War on Cards |
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The American Civil War from 1861 to 1865 is an event that is rich in history and a period in time that shaped a young America for generations afterwards. Unlike wars of this century such as the Boer War and the two World Wars, the Civil War took place about 15 years before cigarette and trade cards could have been produced in conjuncture with the happenings over those five years. However this has not meant that some wonderfully artistic cards have been produced over the last 120 years recording the major events of the war.
Leading up to 1861 the issue of slavery had divided the country into those who wished it to continue (the southern states) and those who wanted it abolished (the northern states). Ten years earlier the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin stirred up a wave of anti-slavery feeling especially in the north and as many other countries had outlawed slavery, numerous Americans felt that the United States of America should follow this lead and grant the black population their freedom. During the ten years up until the war, public debates raged over the slavery issue and due to certain decisions being made that counted against the progression to the abolition of slavery, one of America’s greatest historical figures, Abraham Lincoln (Figure 1) decided to re-enter politics in 1858 and side with those wanting slavery to end. During the next three years, northern and southern states fell all the more apart. The final breaking point occurred when Lincoln was elected president in 1860 and South Carolina, indicating that it would secede from the union if Lincoln became president. It went through with its threat and broke from the union in December of 1860. Quickly after this other southern states seceded and had already created their own government within a month. We must remember that slavery by itself wasn’t the cause for the war but simply an excuse for it. The deeper struggle was political with the south following a more Greek style of democracy due to its largely agricultural production which from a ruling class point of view needed slaves to work the fields. Peace or war? For six critical weeks the whole country wondered if war would break out, and on the 12th of April 1861 it did with the boom of a mortar being aimed at Fort Sumter, a union stronghold in South Carolina. This and other famous battles of the Civil War are probably best illustrated by a series of 25 cards entitled ‘Battle Scenes’ issued by W DUKE in 1887 and GAIL & AX in 1891, which is dedicated to events of the Civil War (Fig.2 & 3). Surprisingly especially for the north, the southern states made the most progress during the early part of the war. Partly due to the federates underestimation of the south and also to the selection of some particularly brilliant generals, the south proved more than a match in its ability to hold strong against the better equipped federate forces. The epitome of such a begrudging attitude was that of general ‘Stonewall’ Jackson who as the federal forces swept in front of them in the Battle of Bull Run in 1861, a colonel shouted out “Look at Jackson’s brigade! It stands there like a stone wall!” A fine picture of this is from a recent set by KEEPSAKE COLLECTIBLES USA (1996) showing the ‘Art of Mort Kunstler’ depicting Civil War scenes in a series of 90 cards (Figure 4). This set is a good example of the recent proliferation of modern trading sets on the American Civil War with HERITAGE and BON AIR being other contributors. By early 1862 the unionist armies had suffered a string of defeats and Lincoln had become a worried man. Somehow he had to find a general for his forces who had the confidence to install his own ideas on how to win the war and finally in early 1862 he found such a man, his name was Ulysses S Grant. Stubborn, awkward and fond of the bottle, he surprisingly became perfect for battle situations which required quick, clear and logical thinking. Probably one of the best drawings of Grant is from the KINNEY set issued in 1889 entitled ‘Leaders’ which shows 25 of the world’s greatest personalities. Its compliment in this set is a card dedicated to his opposing equal, general Robert E Lee. Though Lee is remembered as probably the confederates greatest general who managed to turn near defeat into victory with many battles such as the saving of Richmond from federate forces, Lee himself was against slavery and only took such a high position to serve his home state of Virginia. It was said that before the war Lee’s hair was black but after four years of fighting had turned it to a ghostly white along with his beard (Figure 5 & 6). A good pictorial summary of these and the other most prominent generals of the Civil War is in the set of 25 issued by ELLIS (USA) in 1890 entitled ‘Generals of the Late Civil War’ (Fig. 7). Many of the battles during the Civil War are still well known today - Shiloh in 1862 and the bloodiest battle of the war, Gettysburg in 1863 being two examples. However a battle in March of 1862 was significant in more ways than one as it changed the entire course of naval history forever. Previously naval battles had involved wooden ships but on the 8th of March the Confederates set sail the Merrimack, the first ever ironclad ship. Nothing before it had ever been seen as it speed up the James river and proceeded to attack the unions best wooden sloops, the Congress, the Cumberland and the Minnesota. Such was the panic that this ironclad caused by sinking the Cumberland and badly damaging the other two ships that the federate forces approved immediately the building of a rival ironclad that they had the plans for, for over a year. The federates answer was the Monitor, an ironclad with only two guns but placed on a swivelling turret that left nothing for the Merrimack to target. The nextday the Monitor, hurriedly built, came and met the Merrimack. The fight went on for hours and ended with the Merrimack limping away, never to fight again. Again the set by DUKE entitled ‘Battle Scenes’ illustrates two cards of this battle and show the wonderful printing techniques used around this period that make these cards highly sought after today (Figure 2 & 3). After the Battle of Gettysburg which harboured the greatest loss of life for a single engagement, Lincoln gave perhaps the greatest speech of all time. From July 1st to the 3rd, the small town of Gettysburg had witnessed a conflict in which both sides suffered horribly but left a staggering blow for the south to win the war. Lincoln attended a gathering to dedicate a national cemetery on the 19th in the town and whilst the speaker before him spoke for what was considered a justified time of two hours(!) Lincoln hollowed only 267 words which were poignant and summed up the sentiment of feelings towards the war at that time. This later became more famously known as the Gettysburg address. The war ended on the 9th of April, 1865. Lee’s troops were hungry and lacking supplies. Grant on the other hand had ripped through Atlanta, plundering stores and burning buildings as they went, whilst always on the heels of Lee and keeping them on the run. Lee still believed he could escape from Grant and carry on the war. However his men weary and gums bleeding from chewing on parched corn due to excessive hunger threw away their muskets and gave up. So on the 9th Lee rode to Court house to meet Grant and arrange terms of surrender. Lee and Grant shook hands and Grant said afterwards “I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly”. Lee’s surrender is shown on card no.87 in probably the most famous Civil War set ‘Civil War News’ issued by A & B C GUM in 1965 (Figure 8) in England and by TOPPS in America. Although the cards are colourful and relatively cheap, the imitation banknotes included in the set are far more scarce as these were usually thrown away. Whilst it is believed that around 600,000 men died during the five years of fighting, many of the problems that had plagued the country before the war still remained but one did not which involved that of slavery. With the thirteenth amendment passed on the 31st of January, it meant slavery would be prohibited throughout the nation. Perhaps the country felt its biggest loss on the 14th of April, 1865 when Lincoln, who was instrumental in introducing the thirteenth amendment attended a performance of ‘Our American Cousin’ at Ford’s theatre. As the play went on, an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth crept up the stairs to the presidential box and shot Lincoln. Lincoln was taken to a house across the street and died in the early morning of the 15th. As he died, Secretary of War, Stanton, looking down said "Now he belongs to the ages". . Figure 1 - BAT (1961) Figures Historiques, 2nd series - card no.1 Figure 2 & 3 - DUKE (1887) Battles Scenes Figure 4 - KEEPSAKE COLLECTIBLES USA (1996) The Civil War The Art of Mort Kunstler - card no.C2 “Generals Subset”. Figure 5 - KINNEY USA (1889) Leaders Figure 6 - KINNEY USA (1889) Leaders Figure 7 - ELLIS USA (1890) Generals of the Late Civil War Fig. 8 - A & B C GUM USA (1965) Civil War News, card no.87 |