Camp of the 37th Mass. Vol's. Near Brandy Station Va.
date: label: Date made
content: n.d.
name: label: maker
content: J. H. Bufford and Company
notes: label: Description
content: This color print depicts the 37th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry at camp in an open field near Brandy Station, Virginia. On the right, some men are being drilled while those on the left have time to relax. They are shown playing cards, smoking, conversing, playing leapfrog, and taking part in a ball game, possibly cricket. In the background are seventeen rows of log cabins and in the far right background is a plantation house set in a grove of trees.
label: Description
content: Although this print makes camp life away from the fighting seem idyllic, an 1884 history of the 37th Massachusetts reveals that the men were actually uncomfortable during their time at Brandy Station, since they were exposed to the cold winds of early winter and firewood was difficult to obtain.
label: Description
content: This print was published by the lithographer John Henry 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
topic: label: Subject
content: Horses
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: Subject
content: Blacks
label: Subject
content: Civil War
label: Subject
content: Baseball
label: Subject
content: Games
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.60.3322
label: catalog number
content: 60.3322
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 10 1/2 in x 16 1/4 in; 26.67 cm x 41.275 cm