SOLDIERS on the march to BUFFALO.

Dateca. 1814

Engraver William Charles (1776-1820)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumStipple and etched engraving

DimensionsOverall: 17 1/2 × 11 1/2in. (44.5 × 29.2cm) Other (Plate): 14 × 10in. (14 × 10in.)

Credit LineGift of Mr. Dunscombe H. Colt, Jr.

Object number1964-25

DescriptionSoldier far left on a woman’s shoulders: “O say Bonny lass will you lie in a/Barrack will you marry a Soldier/and carry his Wallet – “

Woman carrying soldier: “O Yes I will do it and/think no more of it a/Soldier I’ll marry and/carry his wallet.”

Soldier carrying a drum: “If ever I marry a/Wife, I’ll marry a widow/for fun, Stick a cockade in/her cap and no doubt/but she’ll follow the drum”

Woman in water carrying children: “Over the water and/over the Lea, And over the/Water with Charley.”

Lower Margin: SOLDIERS on a march to BUFFALO

Label TextThough this print is unsigned it has been attributed to William Charles who copied the design of this print from an 1811 etching “SOLDIERS ON A MARCH. ‘To pack up her tatters and follow the Drum’” by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827). Charles typically copied the work of popular British satarists, who were his biggest influences, including Rowlandson, James Gillray, and Isaac Cruickshanks. To make it his own, Charles added dialogue and ‘US’ to the soldier’s uniforms. He also altered the title to comment upon fighting in the Niagara and Buffalo area at the end of 1813 as part of the War of 1812. The dialogue references popular songs including “Bonny Lass in a Barrack,” “Tally I O, the Grinder,” and “Over the Water to Charlie.”

Though Charles was a dedicated member of the pro-war Democratic - Republican Party, he poked fun at the army’s alleged practice of carrying their families with them during the war. General George McClure, who was in charge of the Buffalo campaign, bemoaned the lack of professionalism he witnessed in his troops, suggesting that the men had only enlisted to protect their families from the war. The women, with their dresses hiked up above their thighs and the prints lewd commentary suggest that these women are not “respectable” wives, but prostitutes.

Soldiers and their wives walk in single file across a stream under trees. The procession moves in a single file across a stream under trees. The procession moves irregularly form right to left. In the stream left are two soldiers carrying their wives on their shoulders. They are followed by a young woman carrying three children on her back, her petticoats raised almost to the waist. On the brink of the stream is a drummer bent under a big drum and with a sword under his arm. A soldier follows, heavily burdened with musket, knapsack, rolled cloak etc., and a pouch from which hangs the head of a goose. He looks behind him at a buxom woman carrying two lusty children, and with petticoats kilted high above bare legs. Last walks a woman carrying on her shoulders an ugly officer wearing plumed bicorne and gorget. All of the equipment carried by the soldiers bares the inscription "U S".