William Gilbert Gaul\nBorn 1855 – 1919\nEducation National Academy of Design, Art Students League\n\nBorn in Jersey City, New Jersey, on March 31, 1855 to George W. and Cornelia A. (Gilbert) Gaul, he attended school in Newark, and at the Claverack Military Academy. In New York, he began studying art under L. E. Wilmarth at the National Academy of Design school from 1872 until 1876. He also studied with John George Brown and at the Art Students\' League of New York when it opened in 1875.\n\nIn 1876 Gaul visited the American West, and on his return began to exhibit military and western paintings at the National Academy and elsewhere. To supplement his income, he provided numerous illustrations to Century Magazine at a time when it was publishing Civil War memoirs; three of his paintings were used as frontispieces to Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1887–88); he also did work for Harper\'s Weekly. His work attracted some interest and he was elected as an associate of the National Academy in 1879 for his painting The Stragglers, and in 1882, was elected a full academician for Charging the Battery, being the youngest to achieve that honor. The same year, his painting entitled Holding the Line at All Hazards was awarded the gold medal by the American Art Association, and in 1889, he received the bronze medal at the Paris Exposition for Charging the Battery. He won further medals at the World\'s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and at the Buffalo Exposition in 1902.\n\nHonors\nelected as an Full Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1879

William Gilbert Gaul History of American Illustration