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Civil War Drawing Ideas

One object, document or map of the Civil War era per press, each with a checked date or fact.

Civil War Drawing Ideas

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  1. A bugle hanging from a tent ropeTaps, the lights-out call, dates from July 1862 at Harrison's Landing, Virginia.

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Before the war 15

  • A bookshop window stacked with one novel Uncle Tom's Cabin came out as a book on March 20, 1852 and sold 300,000 copies in its first year.
  • A brick house with a hiding place upstairs The Coffin home in Fountain City, Indiana has been called the "Grand Central Station" of the Underground Railroad.
  • A five-sided brick fort on an island in a harbor Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. The war began here on April 12, 1861.
  • A hidden ledger of names and dates William Still of Philadelphia kept records of the people he helped, so that families could reunite.
  • A house drawn with a crack down the middle June 16, 1858: Lincoln said a house divided against itself "cannot stand".
  • A lantern in the window of a hilltop house above a river The Rankin house above the Ohio River. Folklore says a light in its window guided people escaping slavery.
  • A life story open on a lectern Frederick Douglass published the Narrative of his life in 1845.
  • A newspaper for sale on a street corner The North Star, an anti-slavery newspaper, began in Rochester, New York on December 3, 1847.
  • A one-line newspaper extra pasted on a wall December 20, 1860: South Carolina's convention issued its ordinance to leave the Union.
  • A small railroad depot with a train about to leave February 11, 1861: Lincoln said goodbye to Springfield, Illinois on his way to Washington.
  • A speaker's platform in a prairie town square In 1858 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held seven debates in Illinois.
  • A stone marker on a state border The Mason-Dixon line, surveyed between 1763 and 1767, runs between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
  • A woman's silhouette leading travelers by starlight Harriet Tubman escaped in 1849, then made some 13 trips back and led about 70 people to freedom.
  • A wooden crate on a railway platform In March 1849 Henry Brown had himself shipped in a crate from Virginia to Philadelphia. It took 27 hours.
  • The North Star over a night river crossing The bowl of the Big Dipper points to the North Star. The Dipper went by the name "drinking gourd".

Camp life 16

  • A bald eagle on a perch carried like a flag Old Abe, a bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin and rode on a perch made for him.
  • A brass horn whose bell points back over the shoulder Army bands used saxhorns with backward-pointing bells, so troops marching behind could hear.
  • A bugle hanging from a tent rope Taps, the lights-out call, dates from July 1862 at Harrison's Landing, Virginia.
  • A canvas haversack hung on a nail A haversack is a bag on a single shoulder strap. Soldiers of the war carried their rations in one.
  • A cone-shaped tent taller than a man The Sibley tent, patented in 1856, was conical and could house about a dozen men.
  • A dog sitting beside a regiment's drum Sallie, a dog, was the mascot of the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry for nearly the whole war.
  • A drummer's drum set down on a blanket Army drummers were part of the signal system: different drum patterns meant different commands.
  • A kepi cap on a tent pole The kepi, a visored cap with a flat round top, was worn by soldiers on both sides.
  • A photographer's wagon with a dark tent Mathew Brady took a mobile studio and darkroom to the war.
  • A signalman's silhouette waving one flag from a platform Wigwag signaling, invented by Albert Myer in the 1850s, spelled messages with the motions of a single flag.
  • A small portrait photograph on a thin iron plate A tintype could be handed to the sitter a few minutes after the picture was taken.
  • A sutler's tent shop with goods on a plank counter A sutler was a civilian merchant who sold provisions to soldiers from a wagon or a tent.
  • A two-man tent made of two joined halves Each soldier carried one shelter half. Two halves fastened together made a small tent, a pup tent.
  • A wagon unreeling telegraph wire The Military Telegraph Corps built more than 15,000 miles of telegraph line during the war.
  • An observation balloon tethered above a camp In June 1861 Thaddeus Lowe telegraphed the president from a balloon 500 feet above Washington.
  • Hardtack and a tin cup of coffee Hardtack is a hard cracker of flour and water. Soldiers broke it up into their morning coffee.

Documents and symbols 18

  • A calendar with the last Thursday of November ringed In 1863 Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November a national day of Thanksgiving.
  • A child's letter and a president's reply In October 1860 Grace Bedell, age 11, wrote to Lincoln suggesting that he grow a beard. He did.
  • A claim stake on open prairie The Homestead Act, signed on May 20, 1862, opened up millions of acres to settlers.
  • A college gate beside a plowed field The Morrill Act, signed on July 2, 1862, gave states public land to pay for colleges.
  • A flag with a diamond of stars raised over a fort The Fort Sumter flag, 33 stars in a diamond pattern, was raised there again on April 14, 1865.
  • A line of telegraph poles crossing an empty plain On October 24, 1861 the first telegraph line across the continent was completed.
  • A new medal on a ribbon The Medal of Honor dates from the war: introduced for the Navy in 1861 and for the Army in 1862.
  • A paper dollar printed green on the back Greenbacks were emergency paper money of the war years, printed in green on the back.
  • A parlor with two chairs and a small table April 9, 1865: the surrender meeting of Lee and Grant, in the McLean house at Appomattox Court House.
  • A proclamation of five pages tied with ribbons The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863. Its five pages were tied with red and blue ribbons.
  • A recruiting broadside in bold wood type By the end of the war roughly 179,000 Black men had been soldiers of the U.S. Army.
  • A short speech written out by hand The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863: 271 words, read in under two minutes. Five copies survive.
  • A tall stovepipe hat on a desk Lincoln stood six feet four inches, and his customary hat was a stovepipe.
  • A vote board reading 119 to 56 January 31, 1865: the House passed the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, by 119 to 56.
  • An order book open to June 19, 1865 General Order No. 3, issued at Galveston, Texas, announced that "all slaves are free".
  • The Capitol with its dome half built The dome was built between 1855 and 1866. The Statue of Freedom was finished on top on December 2, 1863.
  • The national flag with the star count of the year Kansas became the 34th state in January 1861, West Virginia the 35th in June 1863, Nevada the 36th in 1864.
  • "With malice toward none" lettered on a banner From Lincoln's second inaugural address, March 4, 1865. The line goes on: "with charity for all".

Maps and timelines 14

  • A chart of things the war years started Income tax 1861, the Medal of Honor 1861, the Homestead Act 1862, a national Thanksgiving 1863.
  • A coastline with a chain of small ships along it The blockade proclaimed in April 1861 had to watch 3,500 miles of coast and 12 major ports.
  • A five-year timeline from 1861 to 1865 Fort Sumter April 1861, the Proclamation January 1863, Gettysburg July 1863, Appomattox April 1865.
  • A map line at 36 degrees 30 minutes north The Missouri Compromise of 1820 barred slavery from the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of that line.
  • A map showing where your own state stood in 1861 Kansas made 34 states in January 1861. Was yours Union, Confederate, a border state or not yet a state?
  • A railroad drawn across a map of the West The Pacific Railroad Act, signed on July 1, 1862, promoted a railroad across the continent.
  • A ring of dots around a capital city Union forces built 68 major forts in the Washington, D.C. area during the war.
  • A snake coiled around a map of the South General Scott's plan of 1861: blockade the ports and advance down the Mississippi. The Anaconda Plan.
  • A state splitting off from another on a map West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863.
  • A timeline of one idea in three dates September 22, 1862. January 1, 1863. December 6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified.
  • Arrows running north across a map to Canada Underground Railroad routes led to the free states of the North and on to Canada.
  • Eleven states numbered on a map Seven states formed the Confederacy first. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina joined later.
  • Free states, slave states and border states in three colors The border states were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, and after 1863 West Virginia.
  • Washington and Richmond as two stars on one map Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. Richmond was the capital of the Confederate States.

How it works

These Civil War drawing ideas cover the years before the war and its four years: a lantern in a hilltop window, hardtack and a tin cup, a proclamation tied with ribbons.

Read the full guide

Before the war, in camp, on paper, on the map

Before the war is the Underground Railroad, the debates of 1858 and the fort where the war began. Camp life is what a soldier wore, ate and heard: a kepi, hardtack, a bugle. Documents and symbols has the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the order issued in Texas on June 19, 1865. Maps and timelines sets the states, the blockade and the dates on paper.

Objects, papers and maps

The war is drawn through things: a hat on a desk, two chairs in a parlor, a flag with the star count of its year. People appear as silhouettes, and a leader is shown by a hat, a letter or a desk. Battles are dates on a timeline.

  • Count the stars before you draw the flag. The number changed during the war as states joined.
  • On a map, color the border states apart. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri were slave states that stayed in the Union.

Questions and answers

What can I draw for a Civil War project?

Draw one dated object: a line of telegraph poles, the Capitol with its dome half built, a vote board reading 119 to 56. For a poster, map the free, slave and border states in three colors or rule a timeline from 1861 to 1865.

When did the Civil War start and end?

It began at Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. The surrender meeting of Lee and Grant took place at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865.

What did Civil War soldiers eat?

Hardtack, a hard cracker made from flour and water. Its nicknames include tooth dullers, sheet iron and worm castles, and soldiers broke it up into their morning coffee.

What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

An order issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declaring free all persons held as slaves within the states in rebellion. A preliminary version came on September 22, 1862. The original, five pages long, is in the National Archives.

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