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CONFEDERATE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF BELGIUM |
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NEXT MEETINGS |
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Saturday 14 October 2023 at 3 PM
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Lecture by Jean-Claude
Janssens:
George Gordon Meade, the last
commander-in-chief of the Army of
the Potomac. George
Gordon Meade was born in 1815 in
Cadiz, Spain, unusual for an
American general. In 1835, he
graduated from West Point Military
Academy and was appointed to the
artillery. He served in Mexico
(1846-1848) and meanwhile became a
civil engineer. Between 1861 and
1863, he commanded a brigade, then a
division and finally an army corps.
At the end of June 1863, to his
great surprise, George Meade became
the sixth and last
commander-in-chief of the Army of
the Potomac and, above all, the
first to defeat the Southerner
Robert Lee on 3 July in open country
at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. In
1864 and 1865, General-in-Chief
Ulysses S. Grant accompanied the
Army of the Potomac in Virginia.
George Meade then becomes a shadow.
After the war, he commanded the
Atlantic Division. In 1872, aged 57,
he died of pneumonia in
Philadelphia. . |
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Saturday 18 November 2023 at 3 PM
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Lecture by Maurice Jaquemyns:
Military cemeteries from
North to South and from South to
North. If the primary
role of military cemeteries is
memorial meditation, in a given
context, they are organized
according to a theatrical
orchestration intended to reproduce
social and political stratification.
These functions influence each other
and determine their organization.
Our speaker will demonstrate that
the design of Civil War military
cemeteries influenced European
necropolises from 1870 to the
present day. |
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Saturday 19 December 2023 at 3 PM
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Lecture by Dominique De
Cleer:
From ebony or
contraband, black soldiers in the
Civil War. The State
Militia Act of 1792 allowed only
white men to bear arms for the
benefit of the United States.
Despite requests for black men to
enlist, Lincoln's administration
refused to deviate from this rule,
fearing that the Border States would
also secede. In 1862, Congress
amended this law which allowed
black men to bear arms. From 1863,
after the Emancipation Proclamation
of slaves in the South, the
integration of black soldiers into
the regular Union army became
official. Fearing that arming black
slaves
would risk turning them against
their masters and putting them on an
equal footing with whites, the South
refused to integrate colored troops
into its ranks. In March 1865, in
agony, the South recruited and
trained some black soldiers, but the death knell
of the Confederacy had already
sounded. |
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CHAB NEWS END
OF PUBLICATION NOTICE |
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The CHAB committee
wishes to inform its foreign and American
friends that due to severe budget constraints,
the English version of the CHAB News is
no longer published. However, the French
version of our quarterly remains available to
the contributing members of our
association. Thank you for your understanding.
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SURROUNDED |
CSS VIRGINIA |
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“We must survive this day!” These were the
thoughts of General JEB Stuart on the evening of
October 13, as his two cavalry brigades were
unexpectedly surrounded by the arriving Federal
2nd and 3rd Corps near Auburn. Fortunately for
Stuart, he and his men had not yet been
discovered by this huge Federal force which
quickly filled the countryside. The days and
nights of October were already cold, and the
trees were flying the colors of autumn when
General Robert E. Lee launched his campaign
across the Rapidan River to drive the Federals
back to the Potomac. If successful, northern
Virginia would be free from occupation during
the winter, the Federals would be less likely to
send more troops to Tennessee, and Lee would
have ample ground for maneuvering his army and
still be able to protect Richmond. Union General
George Meade’s army was stationed around the
Culpeper Courthouse when Lee’s operations began
on October 9. Stuart and his 1st Cavalry
Division led the advance and easily disposed of
Union outposts on the 10th, clearing the way for
the infantry to move toward Culpeper on the
11th. Upon hearing of Lee’s advance, Meade
evacuated his position and headed towards the
Rappahannock river. On the morning of October 12
General Lee’s battle plan was to outflank Meade
and to intercept his retreat near the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad near Warrenton. On the 13th,
Lee concentrated his force at Warrenton where he
resupplied his troops with rations. That
afternoon he ordered Stuart to reconnoiter 8
miles to Catlett’s Station. Stuart and his
cavalry reached the little town of Auburn about
4:00 p.m. He left part of his force in Auburn
and took two brigades towards Cattlett’s Station
to investigate reports of Yankees to the south.
Soon Stuart’s scouts discovered a vast camp of
wagons and realized the enemy was moving from
the south in force. It was the whole Federal 2nd
and 3rd Corps. General Stuart arrived at the
scene to view the sight for himself. At that
moment another excited scout arrived to announce:
“The enemy are now in our rear.” The group
hurried back to find a large body of Federal
troops marching on the road to Auburn cutting
off their escape. Stuart then sent one of his
most trusted aids, Major Andrew Venable, on a
daunting mission to ride back to General Lee and
inform him of the cavalry’s predicament and send
help. W.W. Blackford of General Stuart’s staff
would write of the situation, “With the
inspiration of his genius Stuart grasped the
subject in an instant and adopted a plan. He
found almost in sight of Auburn the mouth of a
little valley opening on the road and covered
with woods and finding this valley large enough
to hide his command in, he marched it in there,
just about dark.” Everyone quickly settled down
to a long very quiet vigil, keeping their horses
as quiet as possible. Federal soldiers could be
heard talking in the distance. Stuart sent more
couriers during the night to seek help from Lee
in case Major Venable didn’t make it through.
Stuart’s plan was to have a number of Lee’s
artillery batteries near enough to Auburn to
open fire at daybreak. Stuart would do the same
with a few of the cannons he had. This would
cause enough confusion and fear in the Federals
that Stuart and his command could then fight
their way out. At about 1 o’clock in the
morning, Major Venable arrived in Lee’s camp to
inform him of Stuart’s situation and plan. Lee
ordered the plan to move forward. At daybreak in
the foggy valley Federal soldiers were just
awaking and boiling their coffee when artillery
from Lee and Stuart’s cannons opened fire. As
was planned, during the surprise and confusion
General Stuart and his command successfully
broke out. Stuart in his official report wrote:
”Major Andrew R. Venable, Jr., A.A. and
Inspector-General, deserves special mention for
his conduct in evading the enemy near Auburn and
reaching the Commanding General with important
dispatches on the night of October 13th.”
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© All copyrights reserved
by John Paul Strain Historical Art
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The CSS Virginia was a marvel to behold
as it cruised down the Elizabeth River in March
1862. The ship’s innovative design and
construction started a new age of naval warfare
with its extensive armor and powerful armaments.
The ironclad vessel was some 275 feet long and
her beam measured in at 38 feet, 6 inches. The
ship drew 22 feet of water and had a wide
turning radius. To navigate the maze of shallows
and narrow channels of the Elizabeth River, two
tugboats were used to help guide the huge
vessel. Once in open water the Virginia with her
12 guns would be turned loose on the blockading
Federal fleet in Hampton Roads, with the signal,
“Sink before you surrender!” This was
her maiden voyage and her cannons had never been
fired. Large billows of black smoke poured from
her steam engines announcing her presence to the
local inhabitants who came out to witness the
historic event. “Nearly every man, woman and
child in the two cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth were at the same time on their way to
Sewell’s point, Craney Island or other points
where they could see the great naval combat.”
Back in April 1861, Confederate forces had
attacked the Gosport Shipyard in Portsmouth,
Virginia (now the Norfolk Naval Shipyard). At
the time Gosport was the largest Federal naval
port on the East Coast. The southerners
desperately wanted to capture the huge stores of
war material located there, including over 3000
cannons. With no major infantry force to oppose
the southerners, Washington ordered the
destruction of the port, boats, and anything of
value before it fell into the hands of the
Virginia Militia. On April the 20th soldiers
started retreating and burning ships as they
went, including their own USS Merrimack.
The Merrimack burned to the waterline
and sank. The Confederates, who were now in
control of the port, began salvage operations.
Incredibly the Merrimack was raised and
rebuilt as an ironclad by the three best
designers in the Confederacy, John Porter a
naval ship builder, John Brooke an ordnance
expert, and William Williamson a naval engineer.
Captain French Forrest oversaw the construction
of the new ship, and on February 17th, 1862, the
completed ironclad was recommissioned as the CSS
Virginia, under the command of Captain
Franklin Buchanan. News of the construction of a
warship more powerful than anything the Union
had quickly reached Washington. The US Secretary
of the Navy Gideon Welles assigned the task of
building an ironclad to John Ericsson. After
just 101 days on Jan 30, 1862, Ericsson’s new
ship named the Monitor, slid into
Manhattan’s East River. March 8, 1862, was wash
day for the Federal fleet blockading Hampton
Roads when they saw the CSS Virginia
heading straight towards the fifty-gun frigate
USS Cumberland. The Cumberland
opened fire, but her shots bounced harmlessly
off the Virginia “like India rubber balls”.
The Virginia opened fire almost muzzle
to muzzle with the Cumberland, sinking
her in shallow water. The Virginia went
on to set the USS Congress afire,
damaged the USS St. Lawrence at a
distance of 900 yards, and then drove the USS
Minnesota aground. As it was now
getting dark and the tide was receding, the
Virginia drew off for the night, planning
to finish off the Minnesota in the
morning. The Virginia had proved she
was the most powerful warship in the world, and
for that day the Confederate Navy ruled the sea.
From the moment the Virginia opened
fire on Federal forces every other navy on the
earth was obsolete. At one o’clock in the
morning the Monitor arrived at Hampton
Roads and drew up next to the battered
Minnesota. The next morning at seven
o’clock the Virginia headed towards the
Minnesota and was intercepted by the
Monitor. The epic battle of the
ironclads was a sight to behold. The two vessels
hammered away at each other so close they
collided five times. Neither ship was seriously
damaged as the men, blind with smoke, loaded and
fired as fast as they could. With ammunition low
after four and a half hours the Virginia
drew off. The two-day engagement would be her
only fight, as the Confederates would have to
blow her up two months later when the Federals
retook Norfolk.
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© All copyrights reserved
by John Paul Strain Historical Art
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For
information or online orders: |
www.johnpaulstrain.com |
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