Rounding up Boche Prisoners

George Matthews Harding's charcoal and gouache drawing documents American soldiers escorting German prisoners through a liberated village on the Marne in 1918. The composition emphasizes the contrast between armed victors and disarmed captives moving through devastated streets, their uniforms and postures distinguishing combatants from conquered. A civilian woman visible in a damaged doorway grounds the scene in the war's impact on French civilians. Harding's mixed-media technique—layering charcoal, crayon, gouache, and blue wash on textured paper—captures both the urgency of military movement and the stark architectural destruction framing it. As an official war artist document, the work served dual purposes: recording historical event and shaping American public perception of military success and occupation.