Winslow Homer Civil War Art:
The Wish Bone
We have seen Winslow Homer Civil War Illustrations of
death, or hopelessness, of fear and of terror. Now finally, in the
closing days of 1864, we see an image of hope. The illustration is
from the December 3, 1864 edition of Harper's Weekly, and is captioned,
"Thanksgiving-Day in the Army. - After Dinner: The Wish-Bone. [Drawn by
December 3, 1864 - After Dinner,
(Click on Image for Enlarged View)
The image shows soldiers after their thanksgiving
meal pulling on the wish bone. There is a look of peaceful
determination on the faces of the soldiers, as if they know that while
the war is not yet over, it soon will be and they will be able to return
to their families. The soldier's sword, usually so prominently
featured in Homer's work, in now put away, secured in its scabbard on
the soldiers hip. The knife on the table looks not so much like a
terrorizing weapon of war, but more like a useful implement for carving
a turkey. The background features men reclining and resting.
A stack of drums is shown in the background, with the hope that they
will one day soon be used to make music, as opposed to lead men to war.
There is not a bayonet to be seen in the illustration.
A Note to our Readers
We acquired the images above for the
purpose of digitally persevering them on this site for all to enjoy.
With the digital archive complete, we are making the original, 140 year
old illustrations available for purchase. By selling these
original illustrations, we are able to acquire more material to archive
on this site. If you are interested in purchasing one of the
original Harper's Weekly leafs on this page, contact
leafs are available for a price of $250 a piece, and the proceeds will go to continue to expand the
resources on this site.