Infernal machines discovered in the Potomac [near Aquia] Creek by the flotilla ... – Antique Wall Art
![Infernal machines discovered in the Potomac [near Aquia] Creek by the flotilla ..., [1861 July 7] — historic drawing](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/30/3083f89bba7a-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This historic drawing of Infernal machines discovered in the Potomac [near Aquia] Creek by the flotilla ... brings a moment of history to your wall. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
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Infernal machines discovered in the Potomac [near Aquia] Creek by the flotilla ...
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Drawn in pencil and white gouache on brown paper, this sheet records a July 1861 episode on the Potomac, when Union sailors reported finding "infernal machines," the period's term for mines, near Aquia Creek in Virginia. The drawing names the gunboat Thomas Freeborn and the screw sloop Pawnee, both part of the Union flotilla patrolling the river below Washington in the first summer of the Civil War. The Confederacy used such devices to try to keep Union warships out of the waterways approaching the capital. The naval officer James Harmon Ward, also named in the record, died later that year in the same river campaign.
| Created / published | [1861 July 7] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 drawing on brown paper : pencil and Chinese white ; 19.2 x 27.2 cm. (sheet). |
| Genre | Drawings American 1860-1870. |
| Subjects | Ward, James Harmon,--1806-1861--Military service. Thomas Freeborn (Gunboat)--1860-1870. Pawnee (Screw sloop)--1860-1870. Ships--1860-1870. United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Naval operations.United States--Virginia--Potomac River |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,036 × 1,536 px · prints to 3 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-110803 |
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