Skip to main content

Primary sourcePainting1922

General Officers of World War I

John Singer Sargent · 1922

A large 1922 group portrait by John Singer Sargent showing 22 senior British and Empire commanders, including Haig, commissioned to commemorate the war's generals.

Haig appears holding his baton among the senior British commanders Sargent chose to commemorate.

Ask Field Marshal Douglas Haig about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Large group painting of about two dozen British army officers in khaki uniforms with red tabs and leather belts, standing in rows in a stone-columned hall, with a tall sword and a bowler-hatted officer at right.
John Singer Sargent, General Officers of World War I, 1922. National Portrait Gallery.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting by John Singer Sargent, completed in 1922, shows 22 British and Empire generals and field marshals standing together. It was commissioned by Sir Abraham Bailey to commemorate commanders of the First World War and is now held by the National Portrait Gallery.

Why it matters

The painting shows how Britain chose to remember its military leadership after the war. Field Marshal Douglas Haig, commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force from 1915, appears holding his baton alongside figures such as John French, Edmund Allenby and commanders from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Sargent himself found the huge commission difficult and doubted the result, which shows the men standing stiffly with blank expressions.

Look closer

  • Why might the artist have arranged so many men standing like pillars rather than in action?
  • What does the choice of uniform and pose suggest about how generals wanted to be remembered?
  • Whose stories are left out of a painting that only shows the highest-ranking commanders?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Field Marshal Douglas Haig on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Field Marshal Douglas Haig sources

Meet the AI Field Marshal Douglas Haig →
Front cover of a red cloth-bound book with gold lettering reading 'SIR DOUGLAS HAIG'S DESPATCHES' and a gold coat of arms with a crest and motto banners above and below the shield.Document

Primary source

Final Despatch of Sir Douglas Haig

Douglas Haig · 21 March 1919

Oil painting of a middle-aged man with grey-brown swept-back hair and a white handlebar moustache, wearing a khaki military uniform with medal ribbons on the chest and red-and-gold insignia on the shoulder. Blue-grey background with dark smudges. Signed GHQ and dated 30th May 1917.Painting

Primary source

Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief, France

William Orpen · 1917

A red cloth remembrance poppy with three petals, black stamen-like threads, and a brass-colored central button stamped with the words HAIG'S FUND. A thin pale stem extends downward from the base against a plain light background.Artifact

Primary source

Haig Fund remembrance poppy

1921-1928

Black and white photograph of four uniformed military officers standing in a row before a brick and stone building with a window. From left: a man in a peaked cap with a mustache, a man in a peaked cap with a cane, a man in a kepi with a mustache, and a man in a peaked cap with a mustache.Photograph

Primary source

Foch, Pershing, Pétain and Haig

Clara E. Laughlin · 1918

Black-and-white photograph of uniformed officers walking along a muddy trench-side path past wooden posts and timber revetting. Front left, an officer with a sword-like cane and medals; center, a bearded officer in a greatcoat and kepi with a cane; beside him a taller officer in a peaked cap. Several officers follow behind, some wearing caps and riding boots, under a hazy tree line.Photograph

Primary source

Generals French, Joffre and Haig at the Front

Unknown · 1915

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Field Marshal Douglas Haig now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions