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The Union volunteer, Confederate States of America.

The Union volunteer, Confederate States of America.

description

Summary

One of several patriotic prints issued by Currier & Ives in May 1861, closely following the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter and President Lincoln's appeal to the states for troops to suppress the rebellion. (See also "The Flag of Our Union" and "The Spirit of 61," nos. 1861-15 and 1861-16.) Issued in the North, these prints express a militant determination to preserve the Union. "The Union Volunteer" shows a young Union soldier, holding a saber and the stars and stripes and trampling underfoot a Confederate flag which has fallen from a broken staff. Verses appear below the title: "O'er Sumters walls "OUR FLAG" again we'll wave, / And give to traitors all a bloody grave. / "OUR UNION" and "OUR LAWS" maintain we must; / And treason's banner trample in the dust." The New-York Historical Society owns another version of the print, issued the same year, where the soldier's face has been redrawn and his foot rests on a cannon.

The Library's impression of the print was deposited for copyright on May 21, 1861.
Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 6775
Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1861-14.

New York City from 1835 to 1907 headed first by Nathaniel Currier, and later jointly with his partner James Merritt Ives. The prolific firm produced prints from paintings by fine artists as black and white lithographs that were hand-colored. The firm called itself "the Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints" and advertised its lithographs as "colored engravings for the people". The firm adopted the name "Currier and Ives" in 1857.

Named after revolutionary hero General Thomas Sumter, Fort Sumter was unfinished when the Civil War began. On December 26, 1860, six days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, U.S. Army Major Robert Anderson secretly relocated 127 men of the 1st U.S. Artillery to Fort Sumter thinking that it provides a stronger defense against South Carolina militia attacks. For a few months, South Carolina 's calls for evacuation of Fort Sumter were ignored by Union. On Friday, April 12, 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, firing for 34 straight hours. After two hours, the Union started firing back slowly to conserve ammunition. During the fire, one Confederate soldier and two Union soldiers died. The next day the fort was surrendered. The Fort Sumter Union Flag became a popular patriotic symbol. Efforts to retake the fort began on April 7, 1863. After bombardment, the Union navy's started poorly planned boat assault: 8 Union sailors were killed, 19 wounded, and 105 captured. The Confederates did not suffer any casualties. The bombardment of the fort proceeded with a varying degree of intensity until the end of the war but the fort never surrendered. Sherman's advance forced the Confederates to evacuate Charleston and abandon Fort Sumter. The Union formally took possession of Fort Sumter on February 22, 1865. Fort Sumter was in ruins. After the war, the U.S. Army restored the fort and used it as a military installation until 1948 when the fort became a National Monument.

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Date

01/01/1861
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Contributors

Currier & Ives.
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Source

Library of Congress
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Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication.

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