Forbes was born in
New York, studied under
Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, and began as an animal and landscape painter. During the Civil War, he was special artist for ''
Frank Leslie's Magazine''. Many of the spirited
etchings he drew during the conflict were later presented by
General Sherman to the government. They are now preserved in the
War Office at
Washington because of their historic value. After the war, Forbes painted landscape and cattle scenes, among which are "Orange County Pasture" (1879) and "Evening—Sheep Pasture" (1881). In 1877 he was made an honorary member of the
London Etching Club. He died in 1895 in
Brooklyn and is interred in
Green-Wood Cemetery. ==References==