behind AotW

Combat artist Francis H. “Frank” Schell, made this drawing on the Antietam battlefield on 17 September 1862. It pictured the work of Army surgeons like John Theodore Reily, who was assigned to General Franklin’s 6th Army Corps Artillery in Maryland. Of the battle Reily reported:

The field was literally covered with killed and wounded, and it was extremely difficult to move on horseback without injuring the wounded. The great confusion which had prevailed whilst getting the troops into position, and relieving those which had held the ground, prevented the removal of the wounded, and they were consequently under fire several hours.

A fine copy of Schell’s drawing here was sold by Heritage Auctions in December 2007.