Lot 242: WHITE, JOHN BLAKE. 1781-1859, after.

"Sergeants Jasper and Newton Rescuing American Prisoners from the British." Oil on canvas, 17 x 21 inches, [1850s], stenciled name of Julius Scholz of Philadelphia on versos, slight stable craquelure, framed.

Depicting the daring rescue in August 1779 of a young American, his wife and their child, who were being held by the British behind their lines near Savannah, Georgia. The incident was popularized by Mason Locke Weems in his Life of General Francis Marion (1808), and painted by White from his description. The painting was engraved by John Sartain for popular sale, and appeared on Confederate banknotes in South Carolina in 1861.
White's original is in the Senate's collection. Julius Scholz is listed in an 1857 Philadelphia directory as a purveyor of artists' materials.
See illustration.