Appomattox Court House, Va
date: label: Date made
content: 1865
name: label: maker
content: J. H. Bufford and Sons
label: artist
content: Webber, W.
notes: label: Description
content: This print depicts a scene of Union soldiers trading goods with their former Confederate adversaries in the village of Appomattox Court House, where Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant. Captured Confederate cannons and ammunition are visible behind the soldiers. The print also contains four corner vignettes, which show a view of the Appomattox Court House in the upper left; a view of the McLean house, where Grant and Lee met to discuss the terms of surrender, in the upper right; a scene in which soldiers cut apart the apple tree under which Grant and Lee were reported to have held an initial interview in the lower right (this meeting never actually took place); and an illustration of the crossing of the Linchburg and Danville Railroads near Burksville Station in the lower left.
label: Description
content: Elbridge Wesley Webber (1839-1914) was born in Gardiner, Maine, and served during the Civil War in the 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, and the design of this print comes from a sketch he made of the village. After the war, he settled in Boston, paintings seascapes and scenes of sailing ships.
label: Description
content: This print was published by the lithographer James H. Bufford. The son of a sign painter and gilder, Bufford trained with Pendleton's Lithography in Boston, 1829-1831. He worked in New York with George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier (1835-1839) before returning to Boston where he had a good reputation for printing and publishing popular framing prints, commercial work, labels, and trade cards. The company went through several iterations and name changes until about 1865. He became the chief artist for Benjamin Thayer until buying out the firm to found J. H. Bufford & Co. (1844-1851). He continued to work in the lithography and publishing business for the remainder of his life. In 1865, his sons Frank and Henry John became partners in Bufford & Sons or J.H. Bufford’s Sons Litho. Co. After his death they continued the family business as Bufford Brothers and as Bufford Sons Engraving & Lithographing Company until 1911.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Boston
label: depicted
content: United States: Virginia, Appomattox
topic: label: Subject
content: Horses
label: Subject
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: Architecture, Domestic Buildings
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Surrender by General Lee
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: American Civil War Prints
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.2612
label: catalog number
content: 60.2612
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 16 in x 26 1/2 in; 40.64 cm x 67.31 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 19 1/2 in x 29 in; 49.53 cm x 73.66 cm