Julian A. Scott (February 14, 1846 – July 4, 1901), was born in

Johnson, Vermont Johnson is a town in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,491 at the 2020 census. The town is home to Northern Vermont University-Johnson, a part the Vermont State Colleges system. The Vermont Studio Center is loc ...

, and served as a Union Army drummer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, where he received America's highest military decoration the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for his actions at the Battle of Lee's Mills. He was also an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

painter and

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

artist.

Family

Julian Scott was the fourth child, of eight, born to Charles Scott, a clockmaker, and his wife Lucy Kellum. Lucy Scott died in childbirth and Charles Scott remarried, in 1860, to Susan Pollard. During the

, Julian's elder brother, Lucian, served with the 4th Regiment of the U.S. Artillery, was wounded at the

Battle of Ball's Bluff The Battle of Ball's Bluff (also known as the Battle of Leesburg or Battle of Harrison's Island) was an early battle of the American Civil War fought in Loudoun County, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, in which Union Army forces under Major Gener ...

, was taken prisoner in December 1864, and almost died at

Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate States of America, Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army, taking in numbers from the nearby Seven Days battl ...

of starvation. Julian's younger brother, Charlie, enlisted at age 13 and became a bugler. After the war, Charlie moved to Missouri, then to Boston, where he became a physician. His brother, Percy, became an attorney in Illinois. Scott married and had one daughter but, later, he and his wife separated.

Biography

Scott received his early education at the

Lamoille Lamoille or La Moille may refer to: Places in the United States Illinois * La Moille, Illinois, a village * Lamoille Township, Bureau County, Illinois Iowa * LaMoille, Iowa, an unincorporated community Minnesota * Lamoille, Minnesota, an uninco ...

Academy, known today as

Johnson State College Johnson State College was a public liberal arts college in Johnson, Vermont. Founded in 1828 by John Chesamore, in 2018 Johnson State College was merged with the former Lyndon State College to create Northern Vermont University. In July 202 ...

where the main gallery is named in his memory. Scott continued his studies, graduating from the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and subsequently studied under Emmanuel Leutze until 1868. During the Civil War, Scott enlisted in the

3rd Vermont Infantry The 3rd Vermont Infantry Regiment was a three-years infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the eastern theater, predominantly in the VI Corps (ACW), VI Corps, Army of the Potomac, from July 1861 to July 186 ...

on June 1, 1861, at the age of 15 as a

fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

r and, in February 1865, received the

for rescuing wounded soldiers while under enemy fire during the Battle at Lee's Mills,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. When the war was over, he traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

to continue his education. Scott's 1872 masterwork, the ''Battle of Cedar Creek'', is located at the

Vermont State House The Vermont State House, located in Montpelier, is the state capitol of the U.S. state of Vermont. It is the seat of the Vermont General Assembly. The current Greek Revival structure is the third building on the same site to be used as the ...

. The painting illustrates the contributions of his home state of Vermont in the American Civil War and is significant for its absence of glorification of war and instead shows the suffering and human sacrifice associated with war. Scott traveled west as part of a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

party, painting Native Americans in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Many of his works from this expedition now hang in the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Museum of Art.

Notable paintings

*"Rear-Guard at White Oak Swamp" (1869–1870); *"Battle of Golding's Farm" (1871); *"Battle of Cedar Creek" (1871–1872); *" Surrender of a Confederate Soldier"
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
(1873); *"The Recall" (1872) *"On Board the ''Hartford''" (1874); *"Old Records" (1875); *"Duel of Burr and Hamilton" (1876); *"Reserves awaiting Orders" (1877); *"In the Cornfield at Antietam" (1879); *"Charge at Petersburg" (1882); *"The War is Over" (1885); *"The Blue and the Gray" (1886); *"The Death Of General Sedgwick" (1887);
Portrait
of

George B. McClellan George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey and as Commanding General of the United States Army from November 1861 to March 186 ...

" (1888). *"Encampment" (1884), (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Encampment_VA.jpg)

Gallery

File:Village magnates, by Julian Scott.jpg, Village magnates (1880) File:Encampment VA.jpg, ENCAMPMENT 1884 (oil on canvas) - painted from photograph taken in Winchester, VA 1862. possibly Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stewart together? File:Julian Scott. Fireman.jpg, Portrait of fireman File:Surrender of a Confederate Soldier - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg, '' Surrender of a Confederate Soldier'', oil on canvas, 1873, 19.5 x 15.5 in (49.5 × 39.4 cm)

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

File:Death-sedgwick.JPG , ''The Death of General Sedgwick'', Nathaniel Drake House

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and Organization: :Drummer, Company E, 3d Vermont Infantry. Place and date. At Lees Mills, Va., April 16, 1862. Entered service at. Johnson, Vt. Birth: Johnson, Vt. Date of issue: February 1865. Citation: :Crossed the creek under a terrific fire of musketry several times to assist in bringing off the wounded.

References

External sources

* * *
Native paths: American Indian art from the collection of Charles and Valerie Diker
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Julian Scott (cat. no. 1-3) {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Julian Union army soldiers 19th-century American war artists Vermont culture United States Army Medal of Honor recipients 1846 births 1901 deaths People of Vermont in the American Civil War Vermont Brigade Johnson State College alumni People from Lamoille County, Vermont American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor Painters from Vermont Burials at Hillside Cemetery (Scotch Plains, New Jersey) 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters