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Alexander Simplot
Forgotten Bohemian
by John Hunter
Discovered in a Madison garage, the sketchbooks of a Civil War artist-cor¬ respondent provide a unique pictorial record of the War in the West.
A SLOW drizzling rain dulled the bright -^~*- brassy sheen of the horns of the Dubuque Germania band. It was just a few minutes be¬ fore three o'clock on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 22, 1861.
In spite of the rain, which had been falling intermittently for several weeks in the upper Mississippi Valley, a crowd of several thou¬ sand persons jammed the streets of the Iowa river town to say goodbye to their fellow towns¬ men off for the War. On the front page of the Dubuque Daily Times that morning had ap¬ peared the following notice: "Attention Greys:
"All enrolled members of the Governor's Greys are hereby notified and ordered to appear at the Armory at 2 o'clock this day, ready for departure. (Signed) F. J. Herron, Captain."!
And as the crowd that jammed the river front cheered, the Greys filed up the gang¬ plank of the river steamer Alhambra. The vol¬ unteers had marched from their armory down the main street and the cadence of their march¬ ing was quickened by the music of the Ger¬ mania band.^
Eleven days had elapsed since the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and variations on the Dubuque scene were being enacted in thousands of towns throughout the country, on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Here is the way one young Dubuquer de¬ scribed the scene:
Simplot and wife, from a tintype taken in 1866.
"A larger crowd never gathered in the Key City, nor ever swung a steamer into the channel of the broad Mississippi that was freighted with kinder wishes or more heart¬ felt adieus. Eyes were dimmed with misti¬ ness and hearts throbbed heavily with painful, yet tender thoughts, as amid the thundering hurrahs of the crowd and the roar of the artillery, the Alhambra turned its prow from the city and went cutting the spray to the Southvvrard."^ The young man who supplied this descrip¬ tion of events that rainy April day was twenty- four-year-old Alexander Simplot—and he was a busy man that afternoon. He sketched the departure of the Greys and promptly sent it off to Harper's Weekly. That day marked the beginning of Alex Simplot's career as a Civil War artist—a career that made him an active participant in some of the most dramatic events in the war along the Mississippi River from the spring of 1861 until January 10, 1863.
Today Alex Simplot is a forgotten member of the famed corps of men who called them¬ selves the "Bohemian Brigade," a corps that was to become America's first war correspond¬ ents. Ninety-five years have passed since Alex Simplot's brief hour of glory, and today he remains one of the least known of that roman-
" Dubuque Daily Times, April 22, 1861. ' Ibid., April 23, 1861.
' Unpublished manuscript by Alexander Simplot, in possession of the writer.
256
Object Description
| Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 41, number 4, summer, 1958 |
| Article Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 41, number 4, summer, 1958 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | State Historical Society of Wisconsin |
| Series | Wisconsin Magazine of History ; v. 41, no. 4 |
| Format-Digital | xml |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol41no040000 |
| Description | This issue includes two articles on the problems and consequences of mass communication and a sketch of Hungarian artist Alexander Simplot who drew many Civil War military events. |
| Volume | 041 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Year | 1957-1958 |
Description
| Title | 256 |
| Page Number | 256 |
| Article Title | Alexander Simplot, forgotten Bohemian |
| Author | Hunter, John Patrick |
| Page type | Article home; Image |
| Format-Digital | jpeg |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol41no040022 |
| Description | Alexander Simplot, Forgotten Bohemian: Simplot (1837-1914) was an artist from Dubuque, Iowa, who went south during the Civil War with a local unit known as "the Bohemians." He sketched many military events in the southern Mississippi River Valley, including the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, between April 1861 and January 1863. His pictures were regularly printed in Harper's Weekly until he became too ill to stay at the front and returned to Iowa; 6 of his sketches, now in the Wisconsin Historical Society, are printed here. (6 pages) |
| Volume | 041 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Year | 1957-1958 |
| State/Province | Iowa; |
| County | Dubuque County; |
| Community | Dubuque; |
| Decade | 1860-1869; |
| Personal Name | Simplot, A. (Alexander), 1837-1914; |
| Subject | Artists; Civil War, 1861-1865; War correspondents; |
| Full Text | Alexander Simplot Forgotten Bohemian by John Hunter Discovered in a Madison garage, the sketchbooks of a Civil War artist-cor¬ respondent provide a unique pictorial record of the War in the West. A SLOW drizzling rain dulled the bright -^~*- brassy sheen of the horns of the Dubuque Germania band. It was just a few minutes be¬ fore three o'clock on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 22, 1861. In spite of the rain, which had been falling intermittently for several weeks in the upper Mississippi Valley, a crowd of several thou¬ sand persons jammed the streets of the Iowa river town to say goodbye to their fellow towns¬ men off for the War. On the front page of the Dubuque Daily Times that morning had ap¬ peared the following notice: "Attention Greys: "All enrolled members of the Governor's Greys are hereby notified and ordered to appear at the Armory at 2 o'clock this day, ready for departure. (Signed) F. J. Herron, Captain."! And as the crowd that jammed the river front cheered, the Greys filed up the gang¬ plank of the river steamer Alhambra. The vol¬ unteers had marched from their armory down the main street and the cadence of their march¬ ing was quickened by the music of the Ger¬ mania band.^ Eleven days had elapsed since the attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and variations on the Dubuque scene were being enacted in thousands of towns throughout the country, on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Here is the way one young Dubuquer de¬ scribed the scene: Simplot and wife, from a tintype taken in 1866. "A larger crowd never gathered in the Key City, nor ever swung a steamer into the channel of the broad Mississippi that was freighted with kinder wishes or more heart¬ felt adieus. Eyes were dimmed with misti¬ ness and hearts throbbed heavily with painful, yet tender thoughts, as amid the thundering hurrahs of the crowd and the roar of the artillery, the Alhambra turned its prow from the city and went cutting the spray to the Southvvrard."^ The young man who supplied this descrip¬ tion of events that rainy April day was twenty- four-year-old Alexander Simplot—and he was a busy man that afternoon. He sketched the departure of the Greys and promptly sent it off to Harper's Weekly. That day marked the beginning of Alex Simplot's career as a Civil War artist—a career that made him an active participant in some of the most dramatic events in the war along the Mississippi River from the spring of 1861 until January 10, 1863. Today Alex Simplot is a forgotten member of the famed corps of men who called them¬ selves the "Bohemian Brigade" a corps that was to become America's first war correspond¬ ents. Ninety-five years have passed since Alex Simplot's brief hour of glory, and today he remains one of the least known of that roman- " Dubuque Daily Times, April 22, 1861. ' Ibid., April 23, 1861. ' Unpublished manuscript by Alexander Simplot, in possession of the writer. 256 |