Considered the greatest Civil War combat artist, Alfred Rudolph Waud provided an inestimable service to modern war historians with his detailed drawings of Civil War battle scenes. One of the most prolific illustrators of this period, Waud is also one of the few combat artists whose original work survives today. During his lifetime he was so acclaimed as a reliable and accurate illustrator of wartime that even long after the war he was still sought out by biographers and historians for his realistic portrayals of the landscape of war.

Alfred Waud (pronounced "Wode") was born in London, England, on 2 October 1828. The family name-originally Swiss and spelled Vaud-had a long history in the county of Yorkshire. As a young man Waud was apprenticed by his parents to a decorator, but the situation was not good for him, and he left as soon as he was of age. He...