Sketch artists such as Alfred Waud and Edwin Forbes followed the troops, often documenting their everyday lives and action on the battlefield in simple pencil drawings. These sketches are the only visual record of what took place on the battlefield.
Later, illustrators, such as Frank Leslie, created detailed depictions published in Harper’s Weekly and The New York Illustrated News based on the work of sketch artists.
After the War, well-known painters, including Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, and Alexander Pope, created moving and realistic works inspired by these first-hand accounts. Library of Congress collection of Civil War material is so big that it’s sometimes hard to navigate and find what you’re looking for.