1886 Kurz and Allison View of the American Civil War Battle of Five Forks

This is an 1886 Kurz and Allison view of the pivotal Battle of Five Forks during the American Civil War. Union forces, most mounted on horseback, are illustrated charging Confederate lines from the left. Brutal hand to hand combat dominated the foreground, while an inoperable Confederate cannon lies derelict in lower right. Union cavalry stretches to the horizon, charging through a cloud of gunpowder towards the Confederate lines. Other Confederate troops mount a hasty if orderly retreat.

Historical Context

The pivotal Battle of Five Forks occurred near the end of the Siege of Petersburg. Five Forks was a critical road junction southwest of Petersburg along Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee's final supply line, the South Side Railroad. This route was also one of Lee's final escape routes from Petersburg. In the days leading up to the Battle of Five Forks, Union General Ulysses S. Grant orchestrated several smaller battles along the Confederate defensive line south of Petersburg. Each action ended in a Union victory. Lee knew that with this series of victories, Grant would send troops to Five Forks to cut off Petersburg and Richmond from the South Side Railroad. In response, Lee sent reinforcements under the command of Major General George Pickett to hold Five Forks 'at all hazards'.

The Battle of Five Forks

Battle erupted at Five Forks on April 1, 1865, after several small skirmishes. The battle raged all day, with numerous charges and counterattacks. Union forces seized Five Forks, but were unable to cut off the Confederate lines of retreat. The following day, Union attacks broke through Confederate lines at the Third Battle of Petersburg and forced the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to evacuate. The American Civil War (1861 - 1865) ended on April 9, 1865, just seven days later, at Appomattox Court House.

Kurz and Allison Civil War Lithographs

The publishing firm Kurz and Allison created a series of thirty-six battle scenes from the American Civil War in the late 1880s and early 1890s. At the time of their publication, historical interest in Civil War was at an all-time high, with many of the participants still alive and heroes to the subsequent generation. Kurz and Allison's views, due to their high production quality, were the most popular series of Civil War views ever published. In a style reminiscent of Currier and Ives, the chromolithographs were not meant to be purely historical representations, and from time to time, included historical inaccuracies. Even so, 'prints depicting the Civil War battles by Kurz and Allison are among the most sought-after collectibles of Civil War enthusiasts.'

Chromolithography

Chromolithography is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired effect. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it emerged as the dominate method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This view was created and published by Kurz and Allison in 1886. Two examples are cataloged in OCLC and are part of the collections at the Library of Congress and the University of Virginia. Two more OCLC references exist for this map, but they are empty, suggesting that former cooperative members created them.