Our Generals

This hand-colored lithograph by John Childs depicts Union generals assembled on horseback before New York Harbor during the Civil War. The composition arranges military leadership hierarchically—Grant, Sherman, McClellan, and other senior commanders occupy the front, mounted on spirited horses, while junior officers fill the ranks behind. Fort Lafayette and harbor vessels anchor the patriotic scene. The print served as popular propaganda, circulating as both wall art and periodical illustration. Such military group portraits were common Civil War-era prints, functioning as newspapers' visual equivalent to hero narratives. The work exemplifies how 19th-century illustrated journalism shaped public memory of conflict through idealized collective imagery.