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Image Title: The Voluntary Manner In Which Some Of The Southern Volunteers Enlist, 1861

Creator: Currier & Ives.,

Date: 1861

Summary: A facetious view of the Confederate states' early efforts to man a volunteer army during the Civil War. The interior of an enlistment center is shown, where a ragged recruit enters from the left at bayonet point. He is met by a grinning, cigar-smoking Confederate officer (center) who sits at a table supported by a whiskey barrel. On the wall behind him is a sign proclaiming in exaggerated terms a "Glorious Victory for the South" at Booneville and the death of Union general Nathaniel Lyon, which occurred on August 10, 1861. From a rack on the wall hang a pistol, spurs, a whip, and a bridle. Two other Confederate soldiers stand looking on. The one on the right stands beneath a placard announcing the "Suicide of Abe Lincoln" and "Washington to be taken," signed by Confederate general John B. Floyd. (Floyd, who had been secretary of war under President Buchanan, was accused of secretly supplying arms and ammunition to the South from the federal arsenal before the war.) On the same wall a small figure of "Old Abe" hangs by a noose from a nail. On the floor at right are several trivial household objects, including a clock, candlestick, and teapot. They are "Prizes taken by the Southern Navy." In the foreground left sleeps a drunken civilian on whom a small dog is urinating. He rests beneath a notice on the wall declaring the property confiscated by the Confederacy, because its owner, J. Q. Smith, is being "suspected of favoring the unholy and wicked designs of the north." The notice is signed by Jefferson Davis and Robert Toombs (the Confederacy's secretary of state, succeeded by R. M. T. Hunter in July 1861).

Related Names: Worth, Thomas, 1834-1917

Subjects: Army of the Confederacy
Booneville, Mo
Draft (Military service)--1860-1870
Floyd, John B
Lincoln, Abraham, presidency
Lyon, Nathaniel
Navy (Confederate)

Original Media: Lithograph

Collections: Cartoon Prints, American » more info...
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