Reconnoisance [sic] of the Enemies position in front of Fairfax Ct. House Oct. 18th 1861 – Historic Reproduction
![Reconnoisance [sic] of the Enemies position in front of Fairfax Ct. House Oct. 18th 1861, 1861 October 18. — historic drawing](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/ec/ecf04af0033c-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
Step back in time with Reconnoisance [sic] of the Enemies position in front of Fairfax Ct. House Oct. 18th 1861, a historic drawing rich in period detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Reconnoisance [sic] of the Enemies position in front of Fairfax Ct. House Oct. 18th 1861
Order a print
Thank you. Your order went through, and a receipt is on its way by email.
Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal
Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.
The title places this sheet at Fairfax Court House, the Virginia county seat about 20 miles west of Washington, in the weeks after the Union defeat at Bull Run in July 1861. Drawn in pencil and Chinese white, a bright opaque pigment used for highlights, on green paper, it shows the kind of field sketch officers made to map an enemy's ground before advancing. Army topographical and staff drawings from this period were valued for their clarity, and the white highlights help the troop positions stand out against the tinted sheet. The record does not name the draftsman, so the sketch is best read as a working document of the early war's cautious probing of Confederate lines in northern Virginia.
| Created / published | 1861 October 18. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 drawing on green paper : pencil and Chinese white ; 24.3 x 37.7 cm. (sheet). |
| Genre | Drawings American 1860-1870. |
| Subjects | Fairfax Court House (Fairfax, Va.)--1860-1870. Military officers--Union--1860-1870. Troop movements--1860-1870. Military reconnaissance--1860-1870. Soldiers--Union--1860-1870. United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military tactics.United States--Virginia--Fairfax |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 933 px · prints to 5 × 3 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-110860 |
More from the Historic Print Archive collection
Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
![[Front facade and floor plan for 18th century building]](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/97/97aaba01fe3b-400.webp)
![The battle of Spottsylvania [sic]--View of the field from the center of the position / E. Forbes.](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/1d/1db2a2d4b514-400.webp)
![Monterey, as seen from a house-top in the main Plaza, [to the west.] October, 1846](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/31/318ca023361c-400.webp)
![Ponton [sic] Bridge on the Appomattox below Petersburg--Point of Rocks--Butlers headquarters](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/3d/3d0860f5e830-400.webp)