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Versailles’ Jim Hoffmann
Re-enactor artist provides authentic view of Civil War
Sometimes, in the heat of a battle re-enactment, a Civil War soldier will pause to take a look at what artist Jim Hoffmann is doing.
“Wow, that’s good!” is a frequent comment before the re-enactor rejoins his comrades in a charge or retreat.
Hoffmann, a state-employed
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Who’s who?
There’s even a physical resemblance between Hoffmann and Theodore Davis (right). Hoffmann says Davis was not the most talented Civil War sketch artist, but certainly was one of the most authentic where landscape, armament and troop details were concerned.
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artist in the government’s Creative Services division of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, has been seriously doing sketches of Civil War battles since 2002. He’s regularly seen at many Kentucky battlefields and national events with his accurate portrayal of a Civil War sketch artist producing artwork for a prominent period newspaper.
In Jim’s case, that artist is Theodore Davis, the much-traveled Harper’s Weekly correspondent who gained a reputation for his accurate portrayal of War-between-the-States battles and their locales.
Jim, a Versailles resident, looks the part in his 19th century attire equipped with sketchbook, pencils and charcoals and, often, with an easel and large drawing paper when a finished image begins to take shape.
“I use a small, 2-hole leather-bound sketchbook (which is period authentic) when I’m following the battle and do sketches as quickly as possible,” Hoffmann notes.
“I may do a sketch in just a few minutes or maybe as long as 15 minutes, depending upon the action taking place.”
Later, Jim may set up an easel and use his sketches and notes to produce a larger representative image.
Such a setup attracts a crowd and gives Hoffmann the opportunity to provide a living history lesson about Civil War sketch artists and their roles in reporting conflicts to newspaper readers.
But the role of a re-enactor sketch artist isn’t always easy and safe.
“Once at Perryville, I was located near a rail fence and had a good sketch going on Union skirmishers,” he related. “Then, the Confederates charged and rolled mountain howitzers to within five yards of my location and fired. I rolled over the fence and escaped injury, but had a ringing in my ears for hours.”
Another time, he and a friend were running with the flow of battle and stepped on a snake. Fortunately, they were moving too fast for the reptile to do any harm.
Davis, who Hoffmann portrays, was close enough to the real action to have bullet holes in his clothing and experience a sketchbook being shot from his hand.
Davis, at the Battle of Raymond (Tenn.), actually was wounded in the knee by a mini-ball that killed his horse.
Jim has found it’s best to inform re-enactment field commanders that he’ll be near the action doing his sketches.
Davis, Jim said, often was in the thick of a battle and was described by Union generals as one who had “seen more of the war than anybody.”
Always a student of history, Hoffmann began sketching Civil War battles scenes in 1992.
For 10 years, he viewed re-enactments as a spectator as he did his drawings.
People encouraged him to do a sketch artist portrayal and, in 2002 at Perryville, he visited the sutlers and “bought shoes, pants and the basics.”
He chose the persona of Davis after joining the Seventh Kentucky as an official re-enactor.
“I give away a lot of prints,” Hoffmann explained, noting that his role as a sketch artist really is a hobby.
However, he has sold some drawings and has made some prints available to the public.
Charcoals, pastels and acrylic paints are used for prints that are reproduced.
Jim, who began drawing regularly at age 10, has a degree in fine arts with a specialty in commercial art from Western Kentucky University. He was a commercial artist with the Thoroughbred Record magazine and a printing company before joining Kentucky State Government. He’s been an artist with Creative Services for 18 years.
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