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A Bit of War History: The Veteran

1866
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 762
This work, painted at the close of the Civil War by a White Vermont-born painter, forms a narrative triptych (84.12a, b, c) of African American military service. In The Contraband (84.12a) a self-emancipated man appears in a US Army office, eager to enlist. The Recruit (84.12b) represents him as proudly ready for military service. In The Veteran (84.12c) he is depicted as an amputee possibly seeking his pension or returning to military service. By the war’s end, Black American men made up more than ten percent of the so-called US Colored Troops in the nation’s Army and Navy.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Bit of War History: The Veteran
  • Artist: Thomas Waterman Wood (American, Montpelier, Vermont 1823–1903 New York)
  • Date: 1866
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 28 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (71.8 x 51.4 cm)
    (framed with 84.12a and 84.12b)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Charles Stewart Smith, 1884
  • Object Number: 84.12c
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Fresh Eggs
Thomas Waterman Wood
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The Man of War
Thomas Waterman Wood
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Reading the Scriptures, Thomas Waterman Wood American, Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on light tan wove paper, American
Reading the Scriptures
Thomas Waterman Wood
1874
A Bit of War History: The Contraband, Thomas Waterman Wood American, Oil on canvas, American
A Bit of War History: The Contraband
Thomas Waterman Wood
1865
A Bit of War History: The Recruit, Thomas Waterman Wood American, Oil on canvas, American
A Bit of War History: The Recruit
Thomas Waterman Wood
1866

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