“Going Home” by Julian Scott

Brian Jordan referenced Julian Scott’s “Going Home” (1887) in a previous post so I decided to look it up since I am only vaguely familiar with the artist. Scott served in the 3rd Vermont Infantry at the tender age of 15 and was awarded the Medal of Honor in February 1865 for rescuing wounded Union soldiers at Lee’s Mill, Virginia.

It’s a powerful painting and perfect to kick off 2015 and the final year of the sesquicentennial. Click here for other Civil War paintings by Scott. Having read Brian’s book I can see why he has taken a fancy to it.

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3 comments… add one
  • Dave Jordan Jan 5, 2015 @ 20:00

    This painting, with a black civilian leading the procession of Union soldiers in a presumably northern direction, piqued my curiosity. Has anyone studied how many freedmen and women moved north into the formerly “free” states in the years immediately after the war? Were the numbers significant? Or did most of the northward migration come in the 20th century?

  • Carl W. Roden Jan 3, 2015 @ 5:44

    I am familiar with his work, and actually have a small print of this one. The original is an oil painting and the detail is remarkable, particularly the flowers.
    It also makes one reflect on what they went through. These were probably men held in one of the hells that civil war prison camps often were. Its very touching, a very moving piece.

  • Bryce Hartranft Jan 1, 2015 @ 6:45

    His pictures are pretty neat, I especially like his skies and the informal settings he chose to depict rather than grand battle scenes (there is one of chancellorsville, but even it seems more personal than most).

    Interesting how many blankets and shirts he painted red (he was infantry, not artillery after all). Also how he portrays whites and blacks getting along, perhaps he was an ardent abolitionist.

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