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In Front of Yorktown is an oil painting completed in 1863 by the American artist Winslow Homer. It depicts men from McClellan's Army of the Potomac, before the Siege of Yorktown during the American Civil War.

It is also known as Camp Near Yorktown, A Camp Scene, and possibly as On the Picket Line.

The painting is in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery.

Background and Historical Context
Winslow Homer was a painter who got his start as a painter with the Harper's Weekly publication in 1861. Homer first rose to prominence with this publication during the Civil War and was known for his desire to merely capture the scene. He was seemingly just capturing his observations of things that the soldiers were doing, such as at camp, on the move, or in combat. Some of his early works were just sketches but in 1863, he began to make these works into studio paintings.

This painting was one of the first paintings that Homer completed in his career, and captures soldiers stationed in Yorktown. The men portrayed in the work were soldiers and leaders of General McClellan's Army and it was captured right before they embarked on the First Peninsular Campaign in the American Civil War. McClellan was tasked with recruiting soldiers and leading his army into battle. The campaign would result in a defeat for the Union army, something Homer had knowledge of by the time he painted this piece.

Stylistics
This painting has been classified as a landscape painting with some elements of "journalistic realism." As noted above, this was an oil painting on canvas, one of his first of this style.

This is a painting that scholars have noted show the incredible aspirations and ambitions of Winslow Homer, as it portrays a night scene. Art historian Marc Simpson notes that night scenes are extremely difficult to paint as opposed to scenes during the day, and this is an impressive achievement for Homer as this was painted very early in his career. Despite being a challenge, Homer sought to capture the soldiers in this setting as they waited for battle in a desire to document the events of the war.

Much of Civil War art was of soldiers fighting on the frontlines. This painting however is different as it captures soldiers gathered at a camp seemingly regrouping. Instead, "Soldiers instead wait, seated huddled together or alone, bivouacked in front of a lean-to, trying to sleep or staring at a fire, whose flames and sparks light up the darkness." Much like the discussion around darkness, light is very much also a theme here. The flames of the fire appear to remove the darkness and give light to the soldiers here waiting.

Interpretations
One of the interpretations is that this painting shows the great uncertainty that war represents. Peter Carmichael notes how the painting is such that the soldiers are on one side of the painting and the officers are on the other. This conveys a sense of hierarchy within the military as they are divided along the lines of their rank. Also worth noting about the subjects is the fact that only one person's facial expression can be made out in the painting – one of the officers. According to Carmichael: “The officer is clearly preoccupied, but what thoughts engage him? Is he lost in a nostalgic dream for home? Or is he looking at the two other soldiers, whose clean uniforms suggest their newness to war? Maybe he feels the weight of an uncertain future with men that he will lead to the front.” With a war of this magnitude, the officer may be feeling the weight on his shoulder.

Another interpretation is the loneliness and emptiness that war creates. One of the commonalities between the interpretations of many art historians is that waiting and misery are key themes of the piece. The soldiers expressionless faces convey a sense of anxiety and extreme fatigue on the part of the soldiers as they sit alone waiting for the next phase of the journey. The soldiers also sit together as stated above and have nothing but each other and the fire to give light and warmth.