'Siege of Vicksburg' lithograph

This photographic copy of a lithograph by Alfred E. Mathews depicts the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in the summer of 1863 during the Civil War. Mathews sketched this scene and others of the Vicksburg siege while serving in the 31st Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Major General Ulysses S. Grant, an Ohio native, was the commanding officer of the siege. Mathews (1831-1874) was born in Bristol, England, but moved with his family to settle in Rochester, Ohio, when he was two years old. He was working as a schoolteacher in Alabama when the Civil War broke out, and returned north to enlist in the 1st Ohio Artillery in August 1861. He later joined the 31st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and fought in battles including Corinth, Stone River, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. During his three-year enlistment he drew numerous sketches of scenes he witnessed, which were made into lithographs and sold, including publication in Harper's Weekly. He moved west following the war and continued his work as an artist, until his sudden death at the age of 43. He is buried on his ranch near Longmount, Colorado