Gettysburg, Melville, Longstreets's assault on the Union lines.

Gettysburg

by Herman Melville

O Pride of the days in prime of the months

  Now trebled in great renown,

When before the ark of our holy cause

Fell Dagon down-

Dagon foredoomed, who, armed and targed,

Never his impious heart enlarged

Beyond that hour; God walled his power,

And there the last invader charged.

He charged, and in that charge condensed

  His all of hate and all of fire;

He sought to blast us in his scorn,

And wither us in his ire.

Before him went the shriek of shells-

Aerial screamings, taunts and yells;

Then the three waves in flashed advance

  Surged, but were met, and back they set:

Pride was repelled by sterner pride,

  And Right is a strong-hold yet.

Before our lines it seemed a beach

  Which wild September gales have strown

With havoc on wreck, and dashed therewith

Pale crews unknown-

Men, arms, and steeds. The evening sun

Died on the face of each lifeless one,

And died along the winding marge of fight

And searching-parties lone.

Sloped on the hill the mounds were green,

  Our centre held that place of graves,

And some still hold it in their swoon,

  And over these a glory waves.

The warrior-monument, crashed in fight,

Shall soar transfigured in loftier light,

A meaning ampler bear;

Soldier and priest with hymn and prayer

Have laid the stone, and every bone

Shall rest in honor there.

Gettysburg

Civil War Monument, Cassopolis, Michigan

Dawn before Gettysburg

Edward Hopper, 1882-1967

Today is the 150th. anniversary of the final day of battle at Gettysburg, PA. The popularly named Pickett's Charge, and to me, the very important East Cavalry Battle took place on this day. General George Armstrong Custer, and his Michigan "Wolverines" quite possibly saved the day for the Union by sacrificing themselves to prevent General JEB Stuart from attacking the Union lines from behind. General Custer led, from the front, repeated charges and counter charges.

Thure de Thulstrup - L. Prang and Co. Battle of Gettysburg

Civil War Monument, Mishawaka, Indiana

The War is Over. The American Civil War.

The McLean house, Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Here, April 9th., 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders The Army of Northern Virginia to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant.

The Wikipedia article.

Monuments

Bloomington, Indiana Courthouse with War Monument in foreground.

A detail of an eroded Abraham Lincoln tableau, Bloomington.

And some shots of The Indianapolis Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Click on the label "Civil War" at right for more on this and some other monuments, as well as some images from when "Victory" or "Lady Liberty" was down from her lofty height for some restoration work.

Bison and bears. The tarnish on the bison is from water. In warmer weather, the monument is a fountain, with a small stream issuing from the bison's mouth.

A very nice "Deco" building in the background.

I like this image as it shows the "exaggerated" forms of large scale sculpture, which look, when viewed from a distance, normal.

Another, bears, bison, and Indiana's Capitol building, far background. I've never been quite sure of what it is the bears are doing.

Gettysburg

Grave site of Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the House of Representatives, at the time of the battle of Gettysburg. Colfax later was Vice-President in US Grant's first term as President.

 The entrance gate to the Old City Cemetery, South Bend, IN., where the Colfax grave lies.

The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1st. to July 3rd., 1863, figuratively the "High Water Mark" for the Confederacy, although many believe Antietam was a more important turning point in the war.

Today.

The H. L. Hunley by Conrad Wise Chapman

The Haversack Store
The Official Online Store of the Museum of the Confederacy

February 17th., 1864, at approximately 8:45 P.M., the CSS H. L. Hunley attacks the USS Housatonic, successfully sinking her. The first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship.

In 1913, The Armory Show opens in NYC, introducing to America, on a broad scale,  Modern Art. 

And in other news of no import,Violet, AKA Little Bit, and Big Fin, share a quiet moment.

P.S. Hopefully, I've turned off the overwrought word verification. 2-17 5:24 PM

The Monitor Wreck, on this day.

Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting USS Monitor sinking in a storm off Cape Hatteras on the night of 30-31 December 1862. A boat is taking off crewmen, and USS Rhode Island is in the background.

United States Naval History and Heritage Command, #: NH 58758

The Wikipedia article.

This Day

Abraham Lincoln, by Daniel Chester French, Sculptor

Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Today, November 19th., in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivers his brief remarks, The Gettysburg Address, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The "Address" is famous for it's succinct summation of the war.

The battle is controversial as to whether it was the turning point, ( No, Antietam ), or was it the "high-water mark" for the confederacy. ( Yes ). Though the war would bloodily stagger on for almost two more years, it was the last time the confederacy had the men and material to actually win the war, and after Antietam, world opinion seemed unwilling to support slavery, thus losing the political war.

Contrary to Robert E. Lee's "Old War Horse", James Longstreet, I believe Lee had a very good plan, which was why he was willing to take the offensive against a good defensive position. Unfortunately, JEB Stuart, and his troopers, seems to have been "tired" from gallivanting around gathering glory, and were stopped by a ferocious little "Wolverine", George Armstrong Custer, preventing Stuart from getting into the rear of the Union lines. Had he done so, the outcome of the battle may have been far different. There are markers for the "high-water mark", commemorating a Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing, and General Lewis Armisted, who were mortally wounded at the farthest breach of the union lines.

At Gettysburg, Lee and Longstreet seem to have been at "odds", though I think the south has been negligent in it's appreciation for one of Lee's very trusted lieutenants, "Old Pete", "Lee's Old Warhorse", who had his bad days, as do we all. Fairly recently, there has been an Equestrian statue erected at the battle field at Gettysburg; seems it took a while, but better late ...

Fog

This morning, chill, damp and foggy.

Today, in 1864, Arch-villain or war hero, William Tecumseh Sherman begins "The March to the Sea', abandoning his supply lines while in enemy territory, and unusual for that era, a winter campaign.

Civil war reading; about the one year, and selected individuals, including Major Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame, and Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, leader of the New York Fire Zouaves. Ellsworth was the first well known death in the Civil War. In Danville, Illinois, I lived once, on the bluff above the North Fork of the Big Vermilion River, and just down stream from Ellsworth Park. His name has graced much since his early death. Danville is the county seat, and was a part of the law circuit that Abraham Lincoln traveled as a prairie lawyer. Danville is where I developed a taste for reading county histories, variable from all the excitement of the best thriller, to the sleep inducing quality of watching paint dry.

Civil War Monument, Cassopolis, Michigan

Today, September 17th. the bloodiest single day of the American Civil War, Antietam, or Sharpsburg. Tactically inconclusive, though considered a Federal strategic victory, it led to President Abraham Lincoln's announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.

On September 22, 1862, Lincoln announced that he would issue a formal emancipation of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. This effectively ended Confederate hopes of a European intervention.

More Civil War

284 feet in the air above The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Monument Circle, downtown Indianapolis, stands "Victory", or sometimes "Lady Liberty", with flaming torch in her left hand, and a mighty sword in her right, and wearing an eagle as a headdress. She recently has returned to the circle from a visit to the "beauty shop", where she has undergone restoration.

Here, in her hoisting gear, before her floodlit, towering base, she stands waiting for the winds to settle so she may be lifted back high above the city. When she first arose atop  the monument, it was in over 40 separate pieces, pulled aloft by horses and pulleys, with a system of pins to hold her together. Now, she has been welded together and will ride this to her perch:

Sorry for the bad photo, but I didn't have a handy tree or pole to brace the camera with, as in the previous photo, and it was windy.

We were in Nap Town for a family expedition, and I've not been following the news, so I did not know she was still on the ground. After dinner, though, we were able to drive around the circle, and I had to stop and take a few photos.

Indianapolis is home to the tallest Civil War Monument, quite possibly the finest Childrens Museum on the planet, a wonderful State Museum, with a delightful series of sculptural plaques depicting each of the states counties, and what is becoming a world class art museum, with it's new, 100 acre Art and Nature Park. And dolphins and ellyphants at the zoo. Oh, and the Eiteljorg Museum of Western Art, and something named after an oil company, Lucas?, where some football team plays, US football, Colts, and some guy named Manning, some sort of celeb. 8-)

On this Day, September 3rd.

The Civil War monument in Cassopolis, Michigan. On this day in 1862, General Robert E. Lee begins the Maryland campaign, which would end at Antietam, a battle many consider the true beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Somewhat related, in 1838, future abolitionist, Frederick Douglas, escapes from slavery.

Frame for a Civil War Icon

 

The Last Meeting of Lee and Jackson

Oil on Canvas, 12'10 3/4"  x  9' 7".

I've long been acquainted with this image, one of the "iconic" images of the American Civil War. The image above is from a book, "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, The Civil War in Art", by Harold Holzer and Mark E. Neely, Jr., wherein I first saw the painting in its frame. It's great to see art in some context ... alas the above image has been truncated. See below:

The second image is courtesy of Thomas P. Crowther, Director, The Charleston Renaissance Gallery, who graciously e-mailed me a copy of the image from their archives. They owned the painting in the late eighties, and were responsible for the rescue and restoration of the standing outer frame. The base has been replaced, visible as a variation in the wood color. The painting is now part of the collection of The Museum of the Confederacy, Richmond, VA.

And now, I shall curmudge. 8-)

By chopping off the eagle, one loses a good bit of  the wonderful Victorian excess in the frame, though to the books credit, most of the frame was included. And, they included the size.

My complaint is that the majority of imagery of Art has no context, no frame, and quite frequently little information as to size and medium. Usually, size is only for the canvas, or image, and of course, the frame is once again slighted. However from some images on the web, with people in front of the painting, context,  I suspect that the size above is actually for the outside of the frame, as if the canvas were that big, the frame would be close to 20 feet in height. Not inconceivable, but large.  I will check on that.

Here, a small rant on this subject. 

Addendum 1.: I completely forgot to include the artists name: Everett B D Fabrino Julio (1843-1879). He studied in Paris and Boston, and so was probably acquainted with the Pre-Rapahealite Brotherhood, who had a taste for achitectonic frames as well. A somewhat tragic figure, who died young, never having sold this painting. It did, however, go on tour, an alternate income source for many artists in the 19th. century.

Addendum 2.: Mr. Crowther, see above, has responded with a size for the canvas as: 108 x 72 inches, or nine feet high and six wide. Height precedes width.

Civil War

 

Above, the monument to the Confederate soldiers who died at the Civil War prisoner of war camp at Chicago, Camp Douglas. It stands atop a slight "hill", known as the Confederate Mound, where between 4454, the official number, and possibly as many as 6000 Confederate Prisoners of War are buried in concentric circles. This was a first visit for me, and the rain, and deep slush of the mound, did not invite prolonged picture making, and I also wanted to see this:

 

Statue of Lincoln in the Gettysburg pose; a copy of a sculpture in Illinois. The stripes are from the rain, which at this point, was plentiful.  Both the statue and the Confederate Monument are in Oak Woods Cemetery, South side of Chicago. 

Later, better images, though the monument, as an overall, with the fog and rain, seems appropriate for a cemetery visit.

 

Veterans Day, Today

 The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Indianapolis, IN.

Once called Armistice Day, for when The Great War ended, The War to End War. Then, there was another, though some think it was just a continuation.

Civil War Monument, Battell Park, Mishawaka, IN.

Work in Progress

One of several egg tempera paintings I'm working on at the moment. Untitled, as of yet, 6"  x  12", on a panel.Traditional gesso.And the photo was done quickly, and is ever so slightly off. Once it has a frame, I will spend the time to photograph it properly.

Loosely based on a watercolor of mine. One of the pleasures of egg tempera for me is the subtle changes that can be rendered by glazing; and the glazing can be done in cross-hatching, scumbling in a color, or even air brush. Sometimes the paint is just "pushed" around. Unlike oils, there is no tendency to produce mud by repeated working of a passage. 

The painting is nicer in person than on the interwebs ...

Addendum to a previous post. Here

I'm pretty sure the last three words on the top line are: "laid to rest". In the bottom line, the last words are? "all their country? wishes blest. I've jacked up the contrast and sharpness for this file. I've thought of doing a rubbing, but I suspect that doing a photo as I did, with a corded flash at a right angle to the stone is just as good. Help would be appreciated; I have several raw files; if there is anybody who reads my meanderings and is interested in this sort of thing.  It's just an itch I feel like scratching. This small cemetery went through a period of neglect, but seems to be being cared for now, and my interest in that bloody war continues unabated.

Civil War Monuments

Another monument of the Civil War. This is from The Mt. Zion Cemetary, Bertrand Township, Michigan, south western Michigan.

I need to return, as there is an inscription that I did not notice til looking at the photo.

Old Abe

Old Abe

We did a "whirlwind" visit to the Chesapeake Bay to see some friends; eat some crabs, etc. On the way back, drove through Wash. D.C. so the teen and preteen could see some of it. Visited with Abe, tried to walk the Vietnam Memorial; couldn't, and that is enough of that.

Washington, D.C., our nations town, is worth a visit; walked around the Memorial, inside the pillars.

Above, a photo of The Arlington Memorial Bridge, and in the distance, Arlington House, the once home of Robert E. Lee; now surrounded by Arlington National Cemetery.

A Nice Story

This is in response to a question over on "The Grumble".

In the late 1980s, I made some frames and did some restoration work on some frames for an exhibition on the Civil War at The Chicago Historical Society. One of the objects in the exhibition was a portrait of Jefferson Davis, circa 1865 in a circa 1865 frame. The curator wondered if we could reproduce that frame for use on another painting. Off to Thanhardt-Burger, owners of the Newcomb-Macklin collection of molds. T-B kindly gave me access to the collection, where after much dusty rummaging, I did find some molds that I thought were very close.

From the "leftovers" box.

The middle ornament is similar, though I "remember" it as more fruits and veggies, than floral. The acanthus "skin" is probably similar. I had some ornaments made, and took them to compare to the 123 year old frame. 100 % certainty, the old and the new came from the exact, same mold.

Serendipity.

A little back story: Newcomb-Macklin was a very successful company for a long time; they routinely acquired molds and designs from other companies that were leaving the field. One interesting aspect of the 1865 frame was that it was leafed in both metal leaf for the body, and water gilt gold for the highlights, which is not unheard of, but rare.

This is an image I posted at the Grumble, cropped and larger here. I think the top, running ornament might be similar to the ornament pictured above, the top ornament.

Frames, history, serendipity; all we need is SEX.

NEA

A great quote from Rocco Landesman,  the new head of the National Endowment for the Arts. :

"But actors and artists are part of the real economy. They have real jobs, like working in a steel mill or an auto plant, and they have medical bills and rent to pay and kids to send to college. The arts are tough work. But it's real work, and it counts."

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm still waiting for my, personal, stimulus funds. The check is in the mail?

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Indianapolis, IN.

This is one of my favorite images of this monument, completely off-topic, but I really like this image; gonna start using it more.