Alfred R. Waud (Born October 2, 1828) was an American artist who was born in Britain. He died in April 6, 1891 in Marietta, Georgia aged 62. He was an illustrator whose detailed and lively sketches of scenes from the Civil War captured the dramatic intensity of the war and furnished him with a reputation as one of the leading artist-journalists of his time. He covered the war as a press correspondent. He studied art in London at the Royal College of Art (formerly the Government School of Design) and the Royal Academy of Arts. After completing his studies, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1850. Here, he worked briefly as an illustrator for The Carpet-Bag, the Boston humor magazine and provided drawings for an a guidebook (1857) on the area around the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario.
At the age of 32, he joined the New York Illustrated News became as a staff working in the illustration department. Upon the beginning of civil war in 1861, he was sent off to cover the Army of the Potomac. This was the leading Union military contingent. Here, he worked as an exceptional artist for the newspaper. He managed to produce a series of veracious but quickly rendered sketches in the field. Waud remained with the army after he joined the staff of Weekly magazine by Harper at the end of 1861, and he went on to sketch scenes of the Gettysburg’s battle, among other significant military actions. Today, his art hang in many public spaces around the world.
