Scene on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. (Troops going up to join Gen. Banks' command.)

This illustration entitled SCENE ON THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL. TROOPS GOING UP TO JOIN GEN. BANKS' COMMAND was published in the New-York Illustrated News in November of 1861. Right after that the title is the phrase "Sketched by our special artist". The caption also directs the reader to page 26 for the text.

Although both the caption and the text refer to their "special artist," the artist is not named. It is suggested that there is a "Tho Nast" written in the lower left hand corner.

The Civil War letters of Private Roland E. Bowen, 15th Massachusetts Infantry, 1861-1864, published as From Ball's Bluff to Gettysburg ... and Beyond, describe an incident that this sketch may be depicting. Bowen recalls pickets in the Edward's Ferry region being called out in the middle of the night on a false alarm. The alarm was caused by Colonel Samuel Leonard's 13th Massachusetts Infantry coming down the canal from Harpers Ferry in "5 or 6 Canal boats" [p. 21].

The illustration is of troops going upstream. It is possible that the scene depicts the Harpers Ferry/Sandy Hook/Maryland Heights region.