Thomas Butler Gunn

Thomas Butler Gunn (15 February 1826 – 7 April 1904) was an English born illustrator, writer and war correspondent who spent fourteen years in America.

[1] Gunn later recalled attending the sermons of controversial preacher James Harington Evans at the local John Street Baptist Chapel.

[3] During his early years, Gunn was articled to the architectural practise of Samuel Beazley in Soho Square and contributed with illustrations to various publications.

His father provided some financial support during these early years, but Gunn became so short on funds that in 1850 he was forced to take a job as a draughtsman at an architect's practice.

It featured the popular character of a Bowery b'hoy, said to be the legendary Mose Humphrey, who was played on the stage by actor Frank Chanfrau.

[9] Gunn gradually became more involved with writing and in 1857 published The Physiology of New York Boarding-houses, based on his personal experiences, with illustrations by his friends Frank Bellew (pen-name Triangle) and Alfred Waud.

Powell was an Englishman who knew many of the famous authors of the period, including Dickens, Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning.

[13] In 1860, as the country moved towards civil war, Gunn was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, as an artist-reporter by John Bigelow, editor of the New York Evening Post.

Gunn's editor Charles Dana had left the Tribune by April of that year and was replaced by Sydney Howard Gay.

Gunn was submitting his reports late, and because of this, Gay was forced to copy stories out of the New York Herald, a rival newspaper.

While away he learnt of the death of his friend and fellow writer Fitz James O'Brien, who had died from complication after being injured in a skirmish with Confederate troops.

Gunn's last assignment for the Tribune as a war correspondent was with the forces of General Nathaniel Prentice Banks, who sailed to New Orleans from New York in December 1862 with 31,000 troops.

Gunn, who had received letters from Hannah Bennett in England with news of his father, returned to New York in late March 1863 before the attack on Port Hudson took place.

These were well researched works and included series on local churches, villages, battles on English soil and individuals such as the highwayman Dick Turpin.

This related to the changes in the voting system that allowed many more working class individuals to participate, and led to the Liberal party winning the election.