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Major Cronin 1st Mounted Rifles, Combat Artist Harpers Weekly


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David Edward Cronin was born in Greenwich, New York, in 1839. After studying art in Troy, NY, with Alban Conant, he traveled to in New York City in 1855 and spent the years 1857-1860 studying art in New York City, London and France. Cronin enlisted as a Private in Company G, New York State Militia at New York City, New York, on April 19, 1861. He then mustered as a First Lieutenant in Company E, 7th New York Cavalry in September, 1861 to its muster out in the spring of 1862. He was then mustered in as a as First Lieutenant in the 1st New York Mounted Rifles from its organization in August, 1862 to its consolidation in 1865 with the 4th New York Provisional Cavalry. Cronin served successively as Lieutenant, Captain and Brevet Major in the First New York Mounted Rifles. During this time Cronin also worked as a staff artist for Harper's Weekly under the pseudonym Seth Eyland. It is impossible to know how many of Cronin’s sketches made their way into the pages of Harper’s his work, along with a large number of his colleagues went uncredited and was simply captioned, “from a Sketch by our Special Artist.” The Mounted Rifles served principally at Fortress Monroe, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Williamsburg and Yorktown, Virginia. During the Norfolk expedition the Mounted Rifles participated in the battle between the ironclads, firing their Sharp’s carbines from shore at the C.S.S. Virginia during her voyage down river toward the Battle of Hampton Roads with the U.S.S. Monitor. The regiment took part in over 116 battles and skirmishes but sustained no severe losses during the Civil War. The Regiment’s heaviest casualties were at Scott's Mills, Virginia, in May of 1863, when 28 were killed, wounded and missing. In the operations against Petersburg and Richmond in May of 1864, it sustained a loss of 13. During the Siege of Petersburg the Regiment was often in action, but met with no large losses, its total casualties amounting to 43 killed, wounded and missing. It was active at the final assault on Petersburg, April 2, and saw its last fighting at Murfree's Depot, Somerton and Jackson, North Carolina. During the 1863 Siege of Suffolk, Brevet Major David E. Cronin, was in command of the 1st New York Mounted Rifles. He was the Union Provost Marshal of Williamsburg, Virginia. Williamsburg was continually occupied by Union soldiers from May 6, 1862 until September 1865. For the Union cavalrymen who policed the town, Williamsburg was not a hospitable place. Wandering beyond the College of William and Mary could be life-threatening because of Confederate units controlling the ‘no man’s land’ between Williamsburg and Richmond. Cronin mustered out of the army at City Point, Virginia on November 29, 1865. After the Civil War, Cronin practiced law in New York, published and edited the Binghamton (NY) Daily Times, and promoted railroad construction in Texas. In 1884 Cronin wrote about his experiences during the Civil War in the book The Evolution of a Life by Seth Eyland. Cronin’s passions included the hand illustrating of books and the collection of Civil War material. After a short career as a political cartoonist Cronin moved to Philadelphia in 1890 and was on the editorial staff of the Philadelphia Daily. Cronin died in Philadelphia in 1925.

 

The oil paintings of Charles Combs, Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp, A Cavalry Action and the watercolor painting for Harper's Weekly are in the collection of the New York Historical Society.

 

 

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The squared off watercolors are the studies for the oil paintings of Charles Combs and Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp. The squares were used to enlarge the small sketches to the size of the oil canvas.

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Here is the original watercolor for the Harper's Weekly page. The original is in the NY Historical Society.

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