General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick New Jersey (1836-1881)

Portrait of an African-American Orderly.
American, probably New Jersey.
Signed and dated, Hugh Kilpatrick, 1868.
Oil on artist board.
22” x 18 ¼”, 27 ¾” x 24” with frame.
Over-all in fine condition, few puncture holes recently restored with minor in-painting. In a period walnut frame with gilt liner.
This extremely rare subject matter of an African American boy, known as the officer’s orderly is seen smiling while tending to the fire with a bellows. Perhaps a glimpse into life during the Civil War, the painting tells a story. Such personal memories or accounts during this period of history are memorialized in this portrait painted by General Kilpatrick in 1868.