LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Civil War Grand Format Auction #663  / 

72053

Captives of General Custer Division Drawing Lots

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:3,750.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
Captives of General Custer Division Drawing Lots
<B>General Custer's Cavalrymen Drawing Lots to be Executed by Mosby - A watercolor and pencil sketch of General Custer's Men Drawing Lots to be Executed - by Alfred Von Erickson</B></I> As Confederate Colonel John Singleton Mosby's raiders disrupted Union supply lines more and more in 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant reportedly told General Philip Sheridan that if any of Mosby's Rangers were captured, to line them up and execute them. That order was carried out by Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer's men and on September 22nd of that year Custer's troops executed seven of Mosby's men.<BR><BR> As this matted and framed 13 ½” x 11” drawing done in watercolor and pencil shows, Mosby swiftly retaliated. As he had captured seven Union troops of Custer's Division he ordered them executed. The Confederates proceeded to shoot, hang and do their best to exact revenge. Depicted here are seven of Custer's men drawing lots to determine who will be executed. Mosby sits at the left astride his horse as a Confederate passes a hat from which the unfortunates will draw their lot. This sketch of that historical event is titled <I>Captives of General Custer's Division Drawing Lots.</B></I><BR><BR>This drawing was done during the Civil War and is signed 'A. E.' with the notation 'Fredericks bg. V.'. The artist, Alfred Von Erickson lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia and painted scenes during the war. He moved to Canada in 1866 but this watercolor and pencil sketch and others survived. They were important enough to have been given to John S. Mosby and used as a template for woodcuts that were used to reproduce images in Mosby Ranger J. G. Beckham's book of 1866, <I>The Life of Mosby,</B></I> thus dating these to the war years.<BR><BR>This sketch is titled <I>Captives of General Custer's Division Drawing Lots.</B></I> It has some slight foxing but the colors are very vivid. It come is a nicely matted, walnut frame.<BR><BR><B>Provenance:</B></I> <I>John S. Mosby; The Tharpe Collection of American Military History</B></I><BR><BR><B>Exhibited:</B></I> <I>The Liberty Heritage Society Museum</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Framed - with Glass, Medium (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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