Winfield Scott, 13 Jun 1786 - 29 May 1866 Search this
Robert Augustus Toombs, 2 Jul 1810 - 15 Dec 1885 Search this
Alexander Hamilton Stephens, 11 Feb 1812 - 4 Mar 1883 Search this
Jefferson Davis, 3 Jun 1808 - 6 Dec 1889 Search this
Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, 28 May 1818 - 20 Feb 1893 Search this
David Emanuel Twiggs, 14 Feb 1790 - 15 Jul 1862 Search this
Francis Wilkinson Pickens, 1805 - 1869 Search this
John Buchanan Floyd, 01 Jun 1806 - 26 Aug 1863 Search this
Medium:
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions:
Image: 30.6 × 22.1 cm (12 1/16 × 8 11/16")
Sheet: 45.6 × 34.3 cm (17 15/16 × 13 1/2")
Mat: 56.1 × 40.7 cm (22 1/16 × 16")
Type:
Print
Date:
1861
Exhibition Label:
To justify armed conflict with their fellow countrymen, printmakers in the North produced visual propaganda that vilified and dehumanized the South. This print features U.S. Army General Winfield Scott (1786–1866), a Virginia native who remained loyal to the Union, in the guise of the legendary hero Hercules, raising a club labeled “Liberty & Union” against a hydra labeled “Secession.” The seven heads of the mythical beast represent prominent Southern leaders, each labeled with his name and supposed crime. The print was published during the first months of the war and, significantly, does not include slavery among the South’s offenses.
There is some irony in pitting Scott against a serpentine creature. He was the architect of a military strategy that critics mocked as the “Anaconda Plan,” which called for surrounding and slowly starving Confederate forces of vital resources. Scott retired in November 1861, but his strategy endured, guiding the Union to victory.
Para justificar el conflicto armado ante sus compatriotas, las imprentas norteñas produjeron propaganda visual que denigraba y deshumanizaba al sur. Aquí aparece Winfield Scott (1786–1866), general del ejército de EE.UU. y nativo de Virginia que permaneció leal a la Unión, como el legendario héroe Hércules, levantando un garrote con la inscripción “Libertad y Unión” contra una hidra llamada “Secesión”. Las siete cabezas de la bestia mitológica representan a líderes sureños, identificados por nombre y presunto crimen. La estampa se publicó a inicios de la guerra y, curiosamente, no incluye la esclavitud entre los crímenes del sur.
Es un tanto irónico que Scott enfrente aquí a una serpiente. Él fue el arquitecto de una estrategia militar cuyos críticos apodaron el “Plan Anaconda”, que proponía rodear y poco a poco privar de recursos vitales a las fuerzas confederadas. Scott se retiró en noviembre de 1861, pero su estrategia continuó y llevó a la Unión a la victoria.