In Front of Yorktown

On view in the American Art before 1900 galleries

As artist-correspondent for Harper’s Weekly during the Civil War, Winslow Homer accompanied General McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign, the first major Union army offensive. Here he shows five soldiers on picket duty at night. Such small groups were sent ahead of the main camp on the dangerous mission of raising an alert if the Confederate troops advanced. Warmed by the campfire, two men sleep, while the others are lost in thought. Homer’s careful placement of the tree puts the viewer in the position of a hidden observer, silently spying on the unaware men.