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Grant and His Generals
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After the Norwegian artist Ole Peter Hansen Balling
had sketched President Lincoln at the White House
in the fall of 1864, he obtained permission “to
pass to Grant” for the purpose of painting
life portraits of leading Union generals. Balling
joined General Grant at City Point, Virginia, during
the campaign against Richmond and spent five weeks
there sketching officers in the field. Philip Sheridan
was painted while in the Shenandoah Valley; William
T. Sherman and George Henry Thomas were done in
Washington after the end of the war. The image of
George Armstrong Custer, second from the left, is
thought to be the only life portrait made of him.
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Ole Peter Hansen Balling (1823–1906)
Oil on canvas, 1865
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
gift of Mrs. Harry Newton Blue in memory of her
husband, Harry Newton Blue (1893–1925), who
served as an officer of the regular U.S. Army,
1917–1925
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