Drummer Seen from the Back 1864

Winslow Homer made this drawing of a drummer boy, from the back, in the United States during the Civil War. Homer worked as an artist-correspondent for Harper’s Weekly during the war, so his images would have been immensely important as a source of public information. But they also offered commentary on the changing place of military service within American society. The Union army relied on the participation of volunteer regiments of ordinary citizens, and images like this would have helped in promoting that ideal, depicting the army as a diverse group of Americans who were united in their cause. Homer’s decision to show us the drummer boy from the back also asks us to consider the place of these young boys, who may have been too young to be carrying arms, but were nevertheless at the front lines and faced with the physical and psychological trauma of war. Historical research using archives, letters, and newspapers helps us better understand how images like this functioned within the political and social context of the Civil War.