The Painting of the Battle of Gettysburg

The oil on canvas painting below is on display in the main lobby of the Advance America Headquarters in downtown Spartanburg.  It measures about 20 feet wide by 7 1/2 feet high.  It is from the private collection of George Dean Johnson, Jr., founder of Advance America.  There is an audio program available from the nearby receptionist.  To visit the painting, go one short block north on Church Street from Main Street and look on your right.  You gain access to the lobby by pressing the button on the intercom inside the outer door, and tell the person who answers you that you wish to view "the picture".

The artist was James Walker, who began working on it in 1864, and finished 1870.  It depicts the field of battle near the end of Pickett's Charge the afternoon of July 3rd, 1863.  In the distance you can see the Confederate troops trying to breach the stone wall which gave the Union soldiers considerable cover.  In the foreground lies Gen. Armistead, dying, offering his gold watch to an enemy officer who was attending to him.  Veterans from both armies viewed the painting after its unveiling and said that it depicted the events at that point in the battle exactly.  Note that on the far left are the Round Top's, and on the far right is the village of Gettysburg.  A large number of soldiers on both sides are identified by name in the legend that stands to the right of the painting.

Click on the links below to zoom in on the painting





Armistead       Close-up of Armistead      Round Tops      Right Middle      Right Middle      Center1      Center 2

Stonewall        Ft. Sumter Surrender