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(MILITARY—CIVIL WAR.) ROGERS, JOHN.
The Wounded Scout.
Plaster
sculpture, 23 inches high by John Rogers. There has been some repair to the lower arm
and hand of the scout. Signed in the plaster and dated 1864. (WGC)
New York: Rogers Studios, 1864
[3,500/5,000]
ONE OF THE BEST
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KNOWN PIECES BY ARTIST JOHN ROGERS
“The Wounded Scout” car-
ries the obvious message of the loyalty of the Negro soldier, but it also carries a more subtle
message, in the form of the “copperhead” snake at his feet, poised to strike. The Copperheads
were Northerners sympathetic to the South, a sort of Civil War “fifth column,” that caused a
great deal of mischief at home. John Rogers produced a great many sculptures like this one with
images drawn from the War. Their patriotic themes and their relative affordability made them
very popular in the middle-class homes of the period.
