Union prisoners at Salisbury, N.C.
1863 New York Public Library
About this artwork
This chromolithograph depicts a group of Union prisoners of war playing a game of baseball within the Salisbury Confederate Prison compound in North Carolina. It was drawn from life by Captain Otto Boetticher while he was a prisoner at the site during the American Civil War.
Did you know?
This print is historically significant as it provides one of the earliest known visual depictions of a baseball game being played in a Civil War prison camp. The artist, Captain Otto Boetticher, created the scene while incarcerated himself, illustrating how soldiers used sports as a vital morale booster during their confinement in harsh conditions. It remains a rare documentary testament to the role of baseball as a shared cultural past-time that crossed military lines during the conflict.
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Union prisoners at Salisbury, N.C.
Otto Boetticher, 1863
