George Caleb Bingham Biography

Union General Thomas Ewing Jr. issued Order No. 11 in 1863. Ewing wanted to neutralize Confederate guerrillas, so he made people who lived farther than one mile from a Union military post move. Ewing's order affected people living in four western counties in Missouri. Bingham thought this order was unconstitutional. He found its harshness horrifying. He made up his mind to show the world Ewing’s wrongdoing on canvas.

Bingham began work on Order No. 11 in mid-November 1865 and completed it during the latter part of May 1868. He created a second and slightly larger version of the painting in 1870. It is now a part of the State Historical Society's Bingham collection.

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