By the time this work was painted, painful memories of the Civil War had receded enough in the national consciousness that George Henry Story, who specialized in genre scenes of children, could make battle the focus of childs play. Fighting under the banner of the American flag, the three smiling youngsters embody the patriotic pride and optimism surrounding Americas celebration of its 1876 Centennial. Story originally painted an intact sword hanging from the middle childs belt, then changed it to a broken one (a fragment appears on the floor)an alteration probably made to emphasize the fact that this mock conflict is waged with harmless toy weapons.