Morton Künstler B. 1927

Estimate

25,000 - 35,000 USD

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Description

Morton Künstler
The Great Beefsteak Raid: General Wade Hampton, September 16, 1864
signed © MKünstler and dated '14 (lower left)
oil on canvas
22 by 38 inches
(55.9 by 96.5 cm)

Literature

Limited Edition Print, American Spirit Publishing, Oyster Bay, New York, September 2014
The 2016 Künstler Civil War Calendar, Perfect Timing, Inc./LANG, Waukesha, Wisconsin, illustrated in color

Catalogue Note

The Beefsteak Raid was a Confederate cavalry raid that took place in September 1864 as part of the Siege of Petersburg during the American Civil War. By this time, Confederate forces began to show the ill effects of a drawn-out war. Food, ammunition and medicine were all in short supply.

The growing desperation of his troop’s situation forced General Wade Hampton to undertake what would become one of the most ambitious raids of the war. On September 15th he set out to commandeer an entire herd of cattle, numbering in the thousands, from the surrounding Union Army. By September 17th he had not only accomplished his goal, he also managed to drive the herd back to the safety of his own lines. Abraham Lincoln called the raid "the slickest piece of cattle-stealing" he ever heard of.