Pickett's Charge 1863 (Signed) (Original)

Artist: James E McConnell
Medium: Watercolour on Board
Size: 22" x 11" (550mm x 280mm)
Date: 1968
Signature: Signed by artist lower right
Code: McConnellCWBattleMH

This is the Signed unique original Watercolour painting by James E McConnell.

McConnell accurately depicts this famous battle from the US Civil War in this dramatic watercolour original.

Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg in the state of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War.

Its futility was predicted by the charge's commander, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, and it was arguably an avoidable mistake from which the Southern war effort never fully recovered militarily or psychologically. The farthest point reached by the attack has been referred to as the high-water mark of the Confederacy.

The charge is named after Maj. Gen. George Pickett, one of three Confederate generals who led the assault under Longstreet. The infantry assault was preceded by a massive artillery bombardment that was meant to soften up the Union defense and silence its artillery, but was largely ineffective.

Approximately 12,500 men in nine infantry brigades advanced over open fields for three-quarters of a mile under heavy Union artillery and rifle fire. Although some Confederates were able to breach the low stone wall that shielded many of the Union defenders, they could not maintain their hold and were repulsed with over 50% casualties, a decisive defeat that ended the three-day battle and Lee's campaign into Pennsylvania.

Years later, when asked why his charge at Gettysburg failed, Pickett reportedly replied: "I've always thought the Yankees had something to do with it."

• Artist Biography
  James E McConnell (1903 - 1995)
  Well known as a paperback and book jacket artist, particularly for Westerns, James McConnell never turned his hand to picture strips. Leonard Matthews, seeing his paperback work on display in a bookshop, soon had him working as a cover artist for Amalgamated Press, doing the majority of covers for the all text Western Library, a great many of the Cowboy Comics Library covers and a fair number of covers for Thriller Comics Library.
  
  His robust, action-packed style is instantly recognisable. He always seemed more at home with cowboys rather than historical swashbucklers, his covers for the Western Library being of a particular high standard. Nonetheless, some of his historical covers for Thriller Comics Library are very satisfying for he is a great professional and can turn his hand to any genre. McConnell was an incredibly prolific artist, frequently completing a cover painting and the rough for another painting in the same day.