Balling, Ole Peter Hansen [Heroes of the Republic]

Ole Peter Hansen Balling (1823-1906).  [Heroes of the Republic].  (General Grant and his Generals). 

New York: Ferdinand Mayer and Sons, 1867.  22 7/8 x 35 3/8.  Chromolithograph.  Margins trimmed to image and mounted on canvas.  Numerous small areas of printed surface cracking and flaking on print edges with some in image, stabilized as best as possible, with some inpainting.  Expect continued flaking over time.  Sold as is.  Scarce.  Ref: Union Image, p.185. 

As the Civil War moved into its final stages in the fall of 1864, the Norwegian artist Ole Peter Hansen Balling conceived of the idea for a large equestrian painting depicting the commander of the Union armies, Ulysses S. Grant, flanked by an array of generals who served under him. Upon completion, the painting would be used to raise funds for the United States Sanitary Commission, a private organization for aiding sick and wounded soldiers. To obtain likenesses of the twenty-seven figures in the picture, Balling traveled to Union army encampments to make life studies of his subjects. The final rendering of Grant and His Generals approached being life-sized. Balling also painted a smaller version, most likely to serve for the creation of this chromolithograph.  Both paintings are in the National Portrait Gallery. 

Generals depicted left to right: Thomas C. Devin; George A. Custer; Hugh J. Kilpatrick; William H. Emory; Philip H. Sheridan; James B. McPherson; George Crook; Wesley Merritt; George H. Thomas; Gouverneur Kemble Warren; George G. Meade; John G. Parke; William T. Sherman; John A. Logan; Ulysses S. Grant; Ambrose E. Burnside; Joseph Hooker; Winfield Scott Hancock; John A. Rawlins; Edward O. C. Ord; Francis Preston Blair; Alfred H. Terry;  Henry W. Slocum; Jefferson C. Davis; Oliver O. Howard; John M. Schofield; Joseph A. Mower.