1865

The American Gladiators -- Habet! Punch, Volume 48, April 29, 1865, p. 173

In this response to the fall of Richmond and the ensuing surrender of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia (April 9, 1865), Tenniel returns to the theme of an ancient Roman gladiatorial combat to characterize the American Civil War. He had first invoked this reference four years earlier [May 18, 1861] in describing the opening of hostilities. Here he switches from an intimate vertical composition to the more expansive horizontal, and uses a more distant, vast arena setting to suggest that now the entire world is watching the conclusion of this long, fatal contest.

The falling Southern gladiator is armed as a Samnite, equipped with a short sword, helmet, and heavy curved shield; in Roman times, these Samnite-style gladiators represented an older, more traditional type of fighting. His victorious Northern opponent is armed as a retarius, so named for the fatal net (in which can be discerned a stars-and-stripes pattern) that he casts over his foe; the Romans felt that the retarii represented a more skillful, flexible, modern style of fighting. As is characteristic of a retarius, the Northern gladiator is also armed with a trident, the symbolic attribute of Neptune, god of the sea. "Neptune" was Lincoln's nickname for his Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles; perhaps Tenniel's portrayal of the Northern champion intentionally includes this reference to superior Union naval forces, which had enforced an increasingly effective blockade of Southern ports and, by wresting control of the Mississippi and other major rivers, had helped to strangle the South economically in fulfillment of General Winfield Scott's "Anaconda Plan."

"Habet" ("He's down," "He's had it") was the traditional Roman crowd's cry when a gladiator had struck a decisive blow on his opponent, and the match was clearly over. A related verse opposite Tenniel's cartoon, while recognizing the bravery and tenacity of soldiers on both sides, calls upon the Southern people to acknowledge the verdict of battle and accept their defeat, while at the same time urging the North to be magnanimous in victory.