American painters transitioned from the idylls of their Hudson River School landscapes once they heard the drums of war. They took on the challenge of depicting the tension of combat as well as the calm of daily army life. They showed heroism, death, and post-war healing of veterans. Reviewing the work of American artists during the war provides a profound and beautiful window into the conflict, how it was experienced on the front lines and perceived back home. The great American painter Winslow Homer saw war first-hand, and he was the foremost illustrator of the conflict. His ground-breaking painting of a moment in the bloody Battle of the Wilderness in 1864 gets special attention.
