Battle of Shiloh and McCormick Machines

This 1885 chromolithograph produced by the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company depicts the Civil War's Battle of Shiloh on June 6, 1862. Union general Ulysses S. Grant, on horseback at right near the American flag, directs the battle against Confederate troops. The road between the two armies is littered with dead and wounded soldiers and horses. What remains untouched, however, is a McCormick Harvester and Twine Binder machine that was dramatically lit by the artist. The caption beneath the title of the prints reads: "The 'McCormick' Machines Come Victoriously Out of Every Contest, and Without a Scratch."

This advertising print is a copy of a portion of a 400-foot by 50-foot panorama of the battle created by the French military painter Théophile Poilpot for the city of Chicago in 1885. The original panorama, which was also exhibited in Washington D.C., was lost over time.