Samuel Woodson Price Samuel Woodson Price ( August 5 , 1828January 22 , 1918 ) was a portrait artist , Union general in the American Civil War , and author . Early life . Price was born near Nicholasville , Kentucky to Daniel Branch and Elizabeth ( Crockett ) Price . He began to show great aptitude for art at an early age , having set up a studio in a Nicholasville hotel by the age of fourteen . Price attended Nicholasville Academy and later attended Kentucky Military Institute near Frankfort . While a student , he even taught drawing to other students . Art education and personal life . For a time , Price studied portrait painting with William Reading , an artist in Louisville , Kentucky , and later with Oliver Frazer in Lexington , Kentucky . In 1849 , Price left Kentucky for New York City where he enrolled in the School of Design and studied for five months . The following year , Price had reopened his studio in Lexington , but he was persuaded to move to Louisville by a prominent citizen in 1851 . One of his most notable students was Thomas Satterwhite Noble , who studied with him in 1852 . In 1853 , Price married Mary Frances Thompson . Together they had a son and two daughters . Price traveled extensively through Kentucky , Tennessee , and other states throughout the 1850s , painting portraits of prominent citizens . In 1859 , he once again relocated to Lexington . While living there , Price became a captain and commander of " The Old Infantry " , a state guard unit . Civil War . Although many other Kentucky State Guard units would join the Confederacy , Price and the men of " The Old Infantry " helped form the 21st Kentucky Infantry . Price enlisted as a corporal , but soon rose to the rank of captain . On February 26 , 1862 , he was made colonel and led the regiment through many of the major campaigns in the western theater . Price was wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27 , 1864 , when his regiment captured and held the Moulton and Dallas Road while being greatly outnumbered . He recovered from his wound and was subsequently assigned as post commander of Lexington , a position he held until the war ended . Price was mustered out of the U . S . volunteers on December 9 , 1865 . In recognition of his service and especially his leadership at Kennesaw Mountain , on January 30 , 1867 ( and again on March 23 , 1867 ) President Andrew Johnson nominated Price for appointment as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 28 , 1867 . Later life and death . Price relocated to Washington , D . C . soon after the Civil War where he received commissions to paint portraits of generals George H . Thomas and William S . Rosecrans . In 1869 he was appointed postmaster of Lexington where he spent a great deal of his time painting on the upper floor of the post office building . President Ulysses S . Grant removed Price from this position in April 1876 . Facing mounting financial debt , Price once again moved to Louisville in 1878 where he established a studio in the Louisville Courier - Journal office building . Two years later , Price became blind in one eye , and by 1881 he was totally blind in both eyes . Undeterred , he dictated a history of the 21st Kentucky Infantry in 1882 , which was published as part of " The Union Regiments of Kentucky " in 1897 . He also wrote " The Old Masters of the Bluegrass " , which was published by the Filson Club in 1902 and " Biographical Sketch of Colonel Joseph Crockett " in 1909 . His wife died in 1892 and he lived with his son , Robert Coleman Price , in Louisville and St . Louis , Missouri . Price died in St . Louis on January 22 , 1918 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery .