The Battle of Gettysburg: Lieutenant-General James Longstreet, upon seeing the almost completed painting in Walker's studio, wrote commending its "fair and complete representation of that eventful scene."

One of the finest examples of American history painting of the Civil War era, the monumental Battle of Gettysburg was conceived and commissioned by Colonel John B. Bachelder and painted by the accomplished artist, James Walker. It was created as a grand-style panoramic showpiece to dramatically illustrate the clash of Union and Confederate forces on the climactic third day of battle at Gettysburg. Upon completion in 1870, the painting was commercially exhibited in Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, accompanied by Bachelder's printed schematic map with a key to identify figures and landmarks.

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From its first public show in Boston in March 1870, the painting was critically acclaimed for its representative skill and accuracy when a writer for the Herald called it "at once a fine work of art and a wonderful illustration of the battle's history, the position of every regiment and battery being defined on a battle-field several miles in extent."

The true producer of this painting as a visual and narrative enterprise, Bachelder began his career in the 1850s in his native New England, first as an educator, then as an itinerant artist, photographer, and lithographer. By the following decade, he determined to record history when he envisioned what he called this "great National Painting of the culminating struggle at Gettysburg." Bachelder first traveled to the Gettysburg battle site in 1863, where he studied the terrain, and developed his isometric map of the field. He gathered extensive research on the battle, interviewing both northern and southern soldiers and witnesses to outline the action and major figures of the event.

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In James Walker, Bachelder sought out an experienced and renowned military painter and illustrator who was capable of rendering this complex battle scene with a remarkable degree of realism, detail, and drama. Walker was already famous for his numerous paintings of Mexican War battles, including The Battle of Chapultepec (1858), commissioned by the government for the United States Capitol. From 1862 through the Civil War, Walker made studies of Civil War scenes and battles--sketches that were later used for several major panoramic views such as The Battle of Gettysburg.

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