Filling Cartridges at the United States Arsenal, at Watertown, Massachusetts

Filling Cartridges at the United States Arsenal, at Watertown, Massachusetts, is a powerful wood engraving on paper created by Winslow Homer in 1861 and published in the popular illustrated newspaper Harper's Weekly. This print serves as a critical piece of visual reportage documenting the rapidly escalating Union war effort during the opening months of the Civil War in the United States.

Working as a special correspondent and illustrator, Homer captured the intense labor environment of the Watertown Arsenal in Massachusetts. The detailed composition focuses on the methodical work of women and men engaged in the dangerous but essential task of assembling ammunition cartridges. The depiction underscores the vital role industrial workers played on the home front, transforming domestic industries to support military needs. As one of the preeminent American artists documenting the conflict through illustration, Homer’s early contributions through published prints were fundamental to shaping public understanding of the war.

The clarity and precision inherent in this type of wood engraving allowed visual information to be rapidly disseminated across the United States. This historical print, classified today simply as a print, is a significant example of 19th-century journalistic illustration, demonstrating the technique necessary to convey complex scenes to a mass audience. Because of its date and broad publication, the work has been widely reproduced and is frequently available in public domain collections, ensuring its accessibility for study. This historically important image of wartime production is maintained in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.