[Civil War]: Kurz, Louis, and Alexander Allison:

$2,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

THE FORT PILLOW MASSACRE. One of a series of highly sought-after chromolithographs commemorating battles of the Civil War, published by Kurz and Allison between 1886 and 1894. These lithographs, never aiming for historical accuracy, were printed during a period of popular reminiscence and reflection on the war and aimed to present dramatic versions of famous events to ignite the patriotism and emotional memory of their audience. Neely and Holzer write that "Kurz and Allison prints were resolutely ANTIphotographic. The printmakers spurned a photographic look for a nostalgic one - nostalgic not for the war but for the lithographic medium in which it was first brought home to the common people." Their print series was also notable for regularly depicting African-American soldiers, which was rare for Civil War illustrations of the time. This 1892 print portrays the events of the Fort Pillow Massacre, including the popular but erroneous rumor that Confederate soldiers fired on women and children as well as the surrendering Union troops. Confederate soldiers, with General Forrest front and center waving a Confederate flag, shoot and stab at a crowd of African-American soldiers and civilians, as well as the fallen Major Booth. Most of the northerners have their hands up in surrender, although a few have chosen to fight back, including an African-American woman who holds a frightened-looking Confederate soldier by the throat and is brandishing a rock above her head. A caption below t

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