thumb|right|200px|benson j. lossing. benson john lossing (february 12, 1813 â june 3, 1891) was a prolific and popular american historian, known best for his illustrated books on the american revolution and american civil war and features in harper's magazine. he was a charter trustee of vassar college (see links). ==biography== lossing was born february 12, 1813 in beekman, new york. his father was descended of old dutch stock, originally surnamed lassing or lassingh, who had been among the earliest settlers of the hudson valley. his mother was a quaker. his formal education was curtailed when he was orphaned in 1824. soon thereafter, he moved to poughkeepsie to serve as apprentice to adam henderson, watchmaker and silversmith. by 1833, lossing and henderson formed a partnership. lossing married his first wife, alice barrit, in that year. in 1835, lossing became part owner and editor of the poughkeepsie telegraph. out of that publication grew a semi-monthly literary paper, the poughkeepsie casket, which lossing helped illustrate with wood engravings. in 1838, lossing moved to new york city seeking greater opportunity as a journalist and illustrator. he edited and illustrated j.s. rothchild's weekly family magazine 1839-1841 and launched his literary career with the publication of his outline of the history of fine arts. in 1846, he joined william barritt in a wood engraving business that became one of the largest of such firms in new york. his illustrations appeared in the new york mirror and several other periodicals. during this time, lossing sat for a portrait by thomas seir cummings (1804â1894), now in the collection of the metropolitan museum of art, new york city (see links). around 1848, lossing conceived the idea of writing a narrative sketchbook on the american revolution. the first installment was published in harper's new monthly magazine in 1850; the completed pictorial field-book of the revolution was published in 1853. to gather material for the work, lossing traveled some 8,000 miles throughout the united states and canada. as with his subsequent books, his pen and ink drawings served as the primary illustrations when turned into wood cuts. the book won him critical acclaim and general reputation. during and after the civil war, lossing toured the united states and the once confederacy. on the basis of that research, he published a three-volume pictorial field book/history of the war, which is also presumed to be mathew brady's first collaboration in the use of his civil war photographs as book illustrations. in 1860-1861, the london art journal featured a series of lossing's articles describing the history and scenery of the hudson valley; the illustrated articles were published in 1866 under the title the hudson: 
1813_births 1891_deaths 19th-century_journalists American_antiquarians American_engravers American_historians American_journalists American_publishers_(people) Historians_of_the_American_Civil_War Historians_of_the_United_States People_from_Beekman,_New_York People_from_Dover,_New_York People_from_Poughkeepsie,_New_York University_of_Michigan_alumni