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Bachelder, John B.

[Autograph letter touching on his prints and panoramic painting].

Boston: 41-45 Franklin St., at Lee & Shepard’s, 1 April 1877. Pictorial letterhead (11” x 8.5”). 2 pp. With original envelope.

A personal letter by John B. Bachelder on his illustrated advertising letterhead, touching on his intention to give some engravings to a friend as well as talks he gives on a painting.

Bachelder writes to his father-in-law Daniel B. Stevens Esq. of Nottingham, New Hampshire. The letter mainly concerns Stevens’s hiring of one George Harvey. Bachelder notes that if Harvey “gets along pleasantly with you I shall present him with some engravings to decorate his room with.” He also notes that he advertises “to explain the painting at 11 and 3 o’clock of each day, and many come expecting to hear me,” an apparent reference to his panoramic painting “The Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault at the Battle of Gettysburg,” which toured the country.

The letterhead advertises “Prints, Engravings and Books Designed, Compiled and Published by John B. Bachelder of Boston, Mass.” and features inset illustrations of the Battle of Gettysburg and a scene representing his book on popular resorts. Various works for sale are listed, including: Gettysburg: History of the Battle (not yet published); steel engraving of the Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault; Last Hours of Lincoln (steel engraving) and Isometrical Drawing of the Battle-field (his lithographic bird’s eye view of Gettysburg, giving positions of every regiment and battery engaged). Also listed are his books Illustrated Tourists’ Guide; Gettysburg: What to see, and How to See it; and Popular Resorts and How to Reach Them. A Special Notice reads: “designs of battle scenes, sketches of natural scenery, popular resorts, &c., made without charge when used exclusively in my publications. Illustrations, drawn and engraved by the best artists and engravers, extra. Item notices of localities published free; extended descriptions or illustrations of pleasure routes and places of superior interest inserted at fifty dollars per page.”

Born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, John B. Bachelder (1825–1894) was a painter, lithographer, and photographer who became the preeminent nineteenth century historian of the Battle of Gettysburg. After working for a time at the Pennsylvania Military Institute in Reading, Bachelder returned to New Hampshire in 1853 and married Elizabeth Stevens (whose uncle was Gen. Benjamin Butler) and began his career as an artist. In the 1850s he maintained a studio in Manchester, N.H. and painted scenes of the state as well as other sites and cities in the northeast, many of which were published as lithographs. In 1862, Bachelder accompanied the Army of the Potomac to the front, collecting data, making views and maps, and recording the history of the major battles, many of which he witnessed. In 1862 three of his views were published as lithographs: The Retreat : The wagon trains of the army of the Potomac en route from Chickahominy to James River, Va., during the seven days’ fight. (Fording Bear Creek one mile below Savage Station) June 29th 1862; Ravine Occupied by the Picket Reserves of Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Division, Heintzleman’s Corps d’Armee, at the Seige of Yorktown, April, 1862; and Capture of a Rebel Lunette, near Yorktown, Virginia, April 26th, 1862. Each of these views—featuring recreations of military actions—were made after Bachelder visited and carefully examined Virginia battle-sites.

Following the Battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863, Bachelder’s interest in this important battle became all-consuming—leading him to become the nineteenth century’s most notable historian of the battle. Later in 1863, he published a spectacular and detailed bird’s-eye view of Gettysburg, his first published depiction of the battlefield. From 1863 on, he devoted the next thirty years of his life to researching the battle, documenting its most minute details, and conducting many interviews with battle participants—both Union and Confederate—to ascertain the position of all units engaged in the battle. Bachelder assumed a leading role in the erection of battlefield monuments; created a panoramic painting, “The Repulse of Longstreet’s Assault at the Battle of Gettysburg,” and toured the country with it, lecturing along the way; wrote both a guide-book and a history of the battle; organized reunions; and served as Superintendent of Tablets and Legends for the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (1883–87).

REFERENCES: Sullivan, Tom. Col. John Bachelder and the Gettysburg Cannon at hydeparkhistoricalsociety.org; John B. Bachelder at wikipedia.org; John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894) at americanartgallery.org

CONDITION: Very good.

Item #5829

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