Our 500th post in the short history of this blog highlights the work of famous Civil War illustrator Dale Gallon, who painted my favorite Civil War scene. It’s not of a famous battle or person or turning point in the war but depicts the staff of a Civil War hospital going about their daily activities caring for the wounded. Mr. Gallon (link) specializes in Civil War-era paintings, specifically scenes related to the Battle of Gettysburg where he lives, having moved there from Southern California in 1984. Dale has created more than 300 original historical paintings. Some of his pieces are on display at the Seminary Ridge Museum in Gettysburg, VMI, and the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.

In a previous post (link) on one of my hobbies, civil war jigsaw puzzles, a puzzle in that post was of a painting by Dale. It is called Hold at All Costs and depicts Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine holding the left flank of the Army of the Potomac on July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg.

The painting that is my favorite, shown below, is one of the 10 that were commissioned by the Seminary Ridge Museum and Educational Center (link). It’s named- July 1 Steeped in Sorrow and Death. Mr. Gallon discusses the commission by the museum in the podcast at the link. The specifics of the painting below start just after the 21 minute mark. I found the podcast interesting from the perspective of some of the processes and decisions involved in creating the paintings. The 10 originals were scanned and then enlarged into murals for display at the museum.

If anyone has any further details on the painting above please add them in the comments.