The True Peace Commissioners

Robert E. Lee|William Tecumseh Sherman|Abraham Lincoln|Major General Philip Henry Sheridan|David Glasgow Farragut|Jefferson Davis|Currier & Ives|Ulysses S. Grant

1865 · Lithograph · Drawings and Prints

Currier & Ives, premier publishers of inexpensive popular prints in the nineteenth century, distributed several political cartoons related to the Civil War. In this pro-Union image, Confederate leaders General Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis stand back-to-back in the center of the composition, attempting to ward off attacks by Union officers Philip H. Sheridan, Ulysses S. Grant, David G. Farragut, and William T. Sherman. The illustration represents the opinion of the War Democrats, supporters of the war, in response to what many considered to be false peace overtures from the South. It also criticizes the party’s other leading faction, the Peace Democrats, who pushed for a reconciliation between the North and South.

Artist

Robert E. Lee|William Tecumseh Sherman|Abraham Lincoln|Major General Philip Henry Sheridan|David Glasgow Farragut|Jefferson Davis|Currier & Ives|Ulysses S. Grant

Date

1865

Medium

Lithograph

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952