The Songs of the War
DateNovember 23, 1861
Original created by
Winslow Homer
(American painter and illustrator, 1836–1910)
Illustration CitationHarper's Weekly V, no. 256 (November 23, 1861): 744-45
MediumCommercial print process
Dimensionscomposition: 14 × 20 in. (35.6 × 50.8 cm)
sheet: 15 5/16 × 21 7/16 in. (38.9 × 54.5 cm)
sheet: 15 5/16 × 21 7/16 in. (38.9 × 54.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1988
Object number1988-58
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextHomer's compendium of song titles and vignettes illustrated in this picture reflect the optimistic public face of the early war north and south. Just prior to this issue, Harper's Weekly published an article entitled "National Hymns" which discussed the identification of a song appropriate to the moment, declaring, "And when . . . the spirit of the country is as military as for many years it is likely to be, then the 'tune' which is most popular, and which is universally played by all its bands, at all its ports, and along all its lines, and which is associated with some act of heroic daring and triumph, will doubtless become the melody of a national hymn."
Winslow Homer
June 7, 1862
