U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers
Charles Wellington Reed
1841 - 1926
Civil War soldier and artist Charles Wellington Reed (1841-1926) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 1 April 1841. He enlisted in the Ninth Massachusetts Light Artillery on 2 August 1862 and served until the end of the war, but on detached service as an assistant topographical engineer on the staff of Gen. Gouverneur Kemble Warren (1830-1882), Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, after 19 November 1864.
Lt. Reed participated in the battles of Gettysburg (for which he received the Congressional Medal of Honor), the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Petersburg, Hatcher's Run, and Five Forks, and he was present when Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on 9 April 1865. Fortunately, Reed was left-handed, for he received a bad saber cut on his right hand in 1864 during the raid on the Weldon Railroad south of Petersburg, Virginia. A bugler with Bigelow's 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Battery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving the life of Captain John Bigelow during the 2nd day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He was also wounded by shrapnel in the knee and chest.
Lt. Reed described his war experiences in numerous letters to his family. However, his words did not reveal nearly as much about the average soldier's everyday life as did his drawings, which appeared both in letters and in two large sketch books. What Reed could not say, he drew, and obviously, the drawings speak volumes. His sketch of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) visiting the Army of the Potomac during the Petersburg-Richmond Campaign, for example, captures the president's physical appearance, including his clothing and facial features, his respect for common soldiers, and the effect of his presence on the rank and file.
From:
Sketches from Library of Congress and the Civil War sketchbook of Charles Reed.
Photo from: Charles W. Reed papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
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