Alfred Waud Alfred Rudolph Waud ( wōd ) ( October 2 , 1828 – April 6 , 1891 ) was an American artist and illustrator , born in London , England . He is most notable for the sketches he made as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War . Early career . Before emigration , Alfred Waud had entered the Government School of Design at Somerset House , London , with the intention of becoming a marine painter . This did not come to fruition , but as a student , he also worked as a painter of theatrical scenery . He intended to pursue that work in the United States , when he immigrated in 1850 , seeking employment with actor and playwright John Brougham . In the 1850s , he worked variously as an illustrator for a Boston periodical , the " Carpet - Bag " , and provided illustrations for books such as " Hunter ' s Panoramic Guide from Niagara to Quebec " ( 1857 ) . Civil War years . The period during the American Civil War was time when all images in a publication had to be hand drawn and engraved by skilled artist . Photography existed but there was no way to transfer a photograph to a printing plate since this was well before the advent of the halftone process for printing photographs . Photographic equipment was too cumbersome and exposure times were too slow to be used on the battlefield . An artist such as Waud would do detailed sketches in the field , which were then rushed by courier back to the main office of the newspaper they were working for . There a staff of engravers would use the sketches to create engravings on blocks of boxwood . Since the blocks were about 4 inches across they would have to be composited together to make one large illustration . The wood engraving was then copied via the electrotype process which produced a metal printing plate for publication . In 1860 , Alfred Waud became an illustrator or " " special artist " " ( a full - time paid staff artist ) for the " New York Illustrated News " . In April 1861 , the newspaper assigned Waud to cover the Army of the Potomac , Virginia ' s main Union army . He first illustrated General Winfield Scott in Washington , D . C . , and then entered the field to render the First Battle of Bull Run in July . Waud followed a Union expedition to Cape Hatteras , North Carolina the next month and witnessed the Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries . That autumn , he sketched army activity in the Tidewater region of Virginia . Waud joined " Harper ' s Weekly " toward the end of 1861 , continuing to cover the war . In 1864 Alfred ' s brother , William Waud ( who up to that time had been working with " " Frank Leslie ' s Illustrated Newspaper " " ) , joined Alfred on the staff of " Harper ' s " and they worked together during the Petersburg Campaign . Alfred Waud attended every battle of the Army of the Potomac between the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 and the Siege of Petersburg in 1865 . Alfred was one of only two artists present at the Battle of Gettysburg . His depiction of Pickett ' s Charge is thought to be the only visual account by an eyewitness . Post Civil War work . Waud continued to be a prolific illustrator , doing numerous illustrations for Harper ' s Weekly and other prominent publications , achieving his greatest fame in his post - War work . Waud died in 1891 in Marietta , Georgia , while touring battlefields of the South .