Battery of Light Artillery en Route

William Trego’s Civil War scene emphasizes the ordeal of a winter march rather than the glorified drama of battle. An artist who was especially fond of horses, Trego depicts them here as beasts of burden. Their straining bodies and animated faces convey the physical hardship of military life experiences by man and animal alike. Trego was so devoted to historical accuracy that he purportedly spent hours in a snowstorm to capture the effect of falling snow and as a result became seriously ill. The painting is all the more remarkable since the artist’s hands had been paralyzed since he suffered a bout of polio at the age of two.