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French CHAB News December 2024

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF BELGIUM

NEXT MEETING
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Saturday June 14, 2025 from 11.30 AM

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ANNUAL CHAB BANQUET

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As in previous editions, the CHAB barbecue will take place at the club house of the Hoegaarden hockey club. This year, Hubert Leroy and Dominique De Cleer will prepare a Mexican menu: Margarita – Tortilla con carne – Enchilada con pollo – Salad, tomatoes, Jalapeños – Mango pudding – Coffee/Tea. Price of the meal (drinks not included): CHAB members: €35 – non-members: €45. Please register with our secretary Dominique De Cleer by email at d.decleer@scarlet.be or by tel. at 0475/77 34 60, and pay the amount of your meal to account BE90 3100 9059 2632 with the mention CHAB Dinner, before June 4 at the latest.

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Saturday Septemeber 13, 2025 at 3 PM

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PROJECTION OF THE FILM 'THE CONSPIRATOR'

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The Conspirator is a historical drama directed by Robert Redford, released in 2010. The film is set at the end of the American Civil War and recounts the events surrounding the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The plot follows Mary Surratt, a Southern widow who owns a boarding house in Washington where John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices used to meet. Accused of having participated in the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln, she is arrested and brought before a military tribunal, despite doubts about her actual role in the plot. Her son, John Surratt, one of the real conspirators, is on the run at the time of the events. Frederick Aiken, a young Northern lawyer and former Union officer, is appointed to defend her. Although initially reluctant and convinced of her guilt, Aiken gradually discovers that Mary Surratt is being used as a scapegoat to satisfy a public eager for swift justice. The trial is biased, civil rights are violated, and Aiken fights to ensure that Mary receives a fair trial, despite political and media pressure. French version. Runtime: 122 minutes.
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Saturday November 8, 2025 at 3 PM

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REGIS DE TROBRIAND, A FRENCH ARISTOCRAT IN THE SERVICE OF THE UNION

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Lecture by Farid Ameur: Régis de Trobriand, a French Aristocrat in the Service of the Union. From Breton aristocrat to New York citizen, Régis de Trobriand embodied, in his own way, the American dream. During the Civil War, although nothing in his background as a man of letters destined him to don a uniform, aside from the legacy of his ancestors, it was through military service that he chose to defend his adopted homeland. In July 1861, he was unanimously elected colonel of the 55th New York, a local militia unit brought into active Union service and named the “Gardes La Fayette” due to the predominance of French immigrants in its ten companies. He quickly took his responsibilities to heart and discovered a natural aptitude for command. Trobriand threw himself into action with a zeal tempered by elegance, ultimately rising to the rank of major general by the end of the conflict. With mixed fortunes, he took part in some of the Army of the Potomac’s bloodiest battles, from the Virginia Peninsula to the final campaign at Appomattox. After the Civil War, he was appointed a colonel in the regular army on the special recommendation of General Grant. Until March 1879, while working on his war memoirs and accounts of life on the frontier, he served at various garrisons, moving between North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Louisiana, where from 1875 onward he represented the federal government during the turbulent period of Reconstruction.
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LATEST PAINTINGS OF JOHN PAUL STRAIN

 

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NASHVILLE NIGHT PATROL

FIRST TEXAS AT MANASSAS

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After escaping General Grant’s encirclement of Fort Donelson, Lt. Colonel Forrest led his men on a snowy two-day 75-mile trek to Nashville. Rain and warmer temperatures had melted much of the snow as Forrest arrived in Nashville, and reported to General Floyd, who was then commanding the city. Word had spread through the populace that Fort Henry and Fort Donelson had fallen to Union forces. And with news of the approach of US General Buell’s army, a great panic spread throughout the city like a wildfire. A witness later wrote, "A reign of terror and confusion ensued, the like of which was never witnessed in Nashville." Government officials and citizens fled the chaotic scene. Violent plundering mobs were stealing anything of value, attacking anyone who resisted. General Floyd authorized Forrest to take command of the city. Immediately Forrest sent a company of men to secure the public commissary. Forrest then rode with his troops directly into the plundering mob. Those who refused to disperse were met with sabers on their heads and shoulders. One of the drunken ring leaders of the degenerates, charged at Forrest. The man was quickly knocked unconscious by the butt of Forrest’s revolver like a sack of potatoes. The man’s followers realized their situation had changed and reluctantly dispersed. Forrest and his cavalry moved throughout the city restoring some semblance of order. For a week, Forrest’s next task was to try and save as much military equipment and supplies as possible. Every available wagon, horse, or mule left in Nashville was used to remove valuable stores to the depot of the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad. Large quantities of military supplies from the Confederate quartermaster’s department, including hundreds of wagonloads of meat were saved by Forrest and his soldiers. The exodus from the city continued for days with men riding on the top of railroad cars packed with women and children. At night, Forrest and his men patrolled the streets of Nashville, protecting those still remaining in the city. When Buell’s Union army reached the outskirts of Nashville, Forrest and forty of his men were still looking after the transport of supplies. Being the last to leave, Forrest finally headed to Murfreesboro. The Federals entered the city of Nashville on February 25th, which became the first captured Confederate Capital of the war. The city would be occupied by Union forces until 1867. But the Union army had not heard the last from Nathan Bedford Forrest.     

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© All copyrights reserved by John Paul Strain Historical Art

General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia invaded Maryland in September 1862 with the intentions of changing the focus of battle away from the South and into the Federal’s own backyard. Victories there could lead to the capture of Washington, D.C. and the start of negotiations to end the war. General Lee found good ground to defend in southern Maryland near Antietam Creek and ordered his Army of Northern Virginia to converge there. The location was about a mile east of the little town of Sharpsburg. The Antietam Creek winds through the countryside and was swift and deep, crossable only at three stone bridges, making the position defensible from enemy flanking maneuvers. On September the 15th with Federal forces closing in from the east, Lee positioned his men near the creek and waited for McClellan to arrive. On the afternoon of 16th, the Army of the Potomac arrived and engagements soon began, continuing until the evening. But this clash between the two armies was just the beginning of what would become the deadliest one-day battle in American military history. Scattered rain showers and anxiety kept many men from sleeping during the night. Clouds lingered at first light as cannon fire erupted before sunrise. General Hood’s Texas Brigade began to fix breakfast as the epic Battle of Antietam began when Hooker’s Union corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee’s far left flank against the Texans. The Texas Brigade quickly fell into formation emerging from the West Woods near the Dunker Church and were ordered forward across the Miller cornfield in a counterattack. The moment the 1st Texas stepped into the husks of corn they received cannon fire from Battery C of the 5th US Artillery, posted atop the ridge overlooking the Cornfield from the north.  Undeterred the Texans pushed deeper into the corn cornfield in a line of battle as men in the ranks now fell from musket fire. A soldier from the 4th Texas Regiment would later write “When we reached the top of the hill, (it)was the hottest place I ever saw on this earth or want to see hereafter. There were shot, shells, and Minie balls sweeping the face of the earth; legs, arms, and other parts of human bodies were flying in the air like straw in a whirlwind.  The dogs of war were loose, and havoc was their cry.” Despite the fire it seemed the Lone Star soldiers were unstoppable in their charge through the cornfield, driving Federal units before them. However, in their excitement, the 1st Texas had moved ahead from the line of battle chasing after the fleeing enemy, moving farther and farther from their appointed post next to the 18th Georgia. Lieutenant Colonel Work and his officers had lost control of the 1st regiment. In his account published in the Official Records, Colonel Work explained that “[a]s soon as the regiment became engaged with the enemy in the cornfield, it became impossible to restrain the men, and they rushed forward, pressing the enemy…” General Hood would later comment that the 1st Texas had “slipped the bridle and got away from the command.” As the 1st Texas reached the end of the corn field, suddenly rising from an unseen prone position, Meade’s 12th Pennsylvania Reserves poured a solid wall of fire into the advancing Texans, followed by another volley from the awaiting 11th Reserves, and then another from the 9th Reserves. The result was devastating. Those Texans still standing tried to hold their position. In just a few minutes eight men were killed holding the regimental colors. Each time a color bearer was shot to the ground another Texan would pick up their flag. But soon the men retreated from the unrelenting firestorm leaving their Texas battle flag underneath the body of its last bearer. Eventually all of Hood’s Brigade were forced to withdraw. Only 56 soldiers of the 226 men of the 1st Texas Regiment who marched into the Miller’s cornfield survived. The unit suffered over 82% casualties on that field, more than any other regiment North or South, during the entire war. The Texas battle flag carried that day was eventually returned to the State of Texas in 1909, and hung with honor in the Texas State Capitol building until the 1920's. Despite these tremendous losses at Antietam, the men of the 1st Texas would fight on at Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, and the Petersburg siege. They would become known as “The Ragged Old First”.   

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© All copyrights reserved by John Paul Strain Historical Art

 

For information or online orders:

www.johnpaulstrain.com

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