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The True Peace Commissioners

Currier & Ives · 1865

An 1865 Currier & Ives print caricaturing Grant, Sherman, and other Civil War leaders as the true makers of peace.

This print depicts Grant as one of the Union's 'true peace commissioners' at the close of the Civil War.

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Lithograph cartoon titled The True Peace Commissioners. Five caricatured men stand in a row: Sheridan, Grant, Lee, Davis, Forrest, and Sherman, with speech bubbles above. Sherman and Grant stab swords at Lee and Davis.
Currier & Ives, The True Peace Commissioners, 1865. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This 1865 lithograph print, published by Currier & Ives, is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It shows caricatured figures of Sheridan, Grant, Lee, Davis, Forrest, and Sherman standing in a row, with Grant and Sherman shown stabbing swords toward Lee and Davis.

Why it matters

Published just as the Civil War ended, this print presents the Union generals, including Grant, as the real peacemakers, contrasting them with Confederate leaders. It reflects how popular print culture shaped public memory of the war's end and celebrated Union military figures.

Look closer

  • Why are the figures drawn as exaggerated caricatures rather than realistic portraits?
  • What message does the title 'The True Peace Commissioners' send about who deserves credit for ending the war?
  • How might Confederate viewers have reacted differently to this print than Union viewers?

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

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