A panoramic naive ink and wash drawing of a rural scene, signed "Henry Cruse" in ink and indistinctly inscribed below the signature, measuring approx. 9-1/4" x 14", framed in a simple black frame under glass measuring overall approx. 10-1/2; x 15-3/8". The slightly indistinct inscription below the signature probably refers to the 13th regiment in the Ohio Infantry, under the command of Oliver Otis Howard. This interesting scene depicts rolling hills and farm buildings, with a mill in the center of the composition. Several out of scale figures dot the countryside postured in different stances including a soldier fishing, some reading, children rough-housing, and a woman washing laundry and smoking a pipe. In the distance to the right several soldiers lounge about or stand guard. Careful attention has been paid to the rendering of details such as the aspects of the mill, farm house, river and the remaining pylons of a bridge to the left in front of a low waterfall. The scene may refer to a site in which the 13th was engaged, such as Pickett's Mill, or Gauley Bridge, though comparisons with vintage photographic images have not been definitive.
The records found on Pvt. Henry Cruse indicate that he was as a soldier in the 13th and was discharged as a private at the end of the Civil War. The commander was Major General Oliver Otis Howard commanded the IV Corps, Army of the Cumberland during the fighting at Pickett's Mill. Born in 1830 in Leeds, Maine, Howard graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1854. He lost his right arm at the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia. Howard directed the flanking maneuver of May 27, 1864, that resulted in the Battle of Pickett's Mill in which he was wounded again. He became commander of the Army of the Tennessee in July 1864. Howard was appointed as the first commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau in 1865, and, while still in the army, he served in the west and as a superintendent of the Military Academy. He died in 1909.
300/400 Sold $207.00
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