Cedar Creek

Cedar Creek

Richard J. LeFevre (1931 - 2000)

1992

watercolor and mixed media on paper

The city of Winchester, Virginia, changed hands 72 times during the Civil War, as well as nine times in one day. On October 19, 1864, General William Tecumseh Sherman (the central figure in this painting) had just returned from official meetings in Washington D.C. As he entered the city of Winchester, he heard fighting to the south. Without changing his clothes, he mounted his black horse, Ramsey, and rode out to find his army in total rout to the Confederates. General Sheridan road alongside the lines splashing mud, waving his hat in the air, cheering his men on, and rallied them back into the fight.

Bequest of the Artist