Beschreibung:

Pen and ink on paper, 12.125 x 6.75 in. (sight), matted and framed to 18.5 x 14.125 in. Initialed lower right, "A.M.," with inscribed caption and second set of initials at lower left: "Camp on Rapidan Riv. Oct. 1863 / Yankee Camp at foot of Mountains. A.M." Additional inscription below sketch reads, "Camp on R. Road. - Rapidan Riv. Va - / Oct. 1863. Orange Court House." The river in the middle distance and the train in the foreground ("To Culpepper") are labeled in period ink. One of several drawings recovered from the field sketchbook of Alexander C. Meinung, 26th North Carolina Infantry. Meinung (1823-1908) was born in Salem, North Carolina to Moravian émigrés. A talented musician, instructor, and artist, Meinung enlisted on March 9, 1862 at Craven County as a musician, along with many of his fellow musicians from the Salem Moravian Church Band. Together, they were mustered into the 26th North Carolina Infantry and became members of the regimental band. The "Bloody Twenty-Sixth" was organized at a plantation outside of Raleigh and saw its initial action at New Bern in 1862. Meinung and his regiment participated in the Seven Days' Battle, as well as engagements at Rawl's Mills and Goldsboro, before their dispatch to Gettysburg, where Meinung also served as a stretcher bearer. Later, the regimental band was captured during the evacuation of Petersburg on April 5, 1865. Condition: Drawing formed by three small sheets, displayed side by side to yield a complete scene. Small hole to bottom of center panel, with areas of staining and discoloration throughout. Not examined outside frame.