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CONFEDERATE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF BELGIUM |
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Due
to the renovation works at the Communal
Museum, the CHAB Club House has moved into
temporary premises at Wolubilis, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert.
Our monthly meetings will thus be held there until
further notice. New Address: 1 place du
Temps Libre - Local A300 - 3rd floor (right when
leaving the elevator).
The building is located along the Cours Paul-Henri
Spaak, just opposite the Woluwe Shopping Center.
The entrance is on the ground floor, left of
the bookstore/restaurant Cook & Book.
See access map |
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NEXT MEETINGS
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Saturday
November 10, 2018
at 3 PM |
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REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
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At our
temporary premises in Wolubilis, lecture by Maurice
Jaquemyns:
“Representing
the American Civil War.”
The surrender of General Lee on April 9, 1865 at
Appomattox put an end to the American Civil War. Although
the guns were now silent, the conflict is prolonged
through historical paintings of the war. This pictorial
genre fulfills two purposes. First ideological: the
representations of the specifics of war make it possible
to exalt the heroism displayed during the conflict and to
justify the sacrifices made for victory or admit the
reality of glorious defeat. Then commercial, as well for
artists as for image distribution companies: the memory of
the belligerent calls for a demand and specialized
companies such as Kurz and Allison respond to their
requests. Our lecturer will place these perspectives in a
global approach to the paintings of war in the history of
art and various examples will be proposed to feed his
hypothesis applied to the American Civil War. The artwork
of Don Troiani, John Paul Strain and other artists will be
analyzed. The French poet Charles Baudelaire fully
understood the role played by historical paintings of war;
referring to Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891), an artist of
the First Empire, he stated: “Meissonier wages war with
paintbrushes.” |
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Saturday December 8, 2018,
at 3 PM |
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THROUGH THE EYE OF THE
CAMERA
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At our
temporary premises in Wolubilis, lecture by Mehdi
Schneyders: “Through the eye of the camera.”
Photography is a wonderful invention that today seems
trivial because it is part of our daily lives. However,
thanks to photography, we are able to appreciate and
admire the things that are most valuable to us: a moment
exposed to light, a human being, a place, an era. The
Civil War was without a doubt the first major conflict to
be massively immortalized through ambrotypes,
daguerreotypes, tintypes and other business cards. From
the studio to the battlefield, strangers and
personalities, Unionists and Confederates alike, posed to
leave a trace of themselves for the sake of transmitting a
memory, out of pride or for propaganda. The aim of this
lecture is to highlight different topics, revealing the
details they contain and the little story behind each
shot. From 1861 to 1865, we will travel through the sharp
eye of the photographer in order to admire, as a
passionate or uninitiated, the visual testimonies engraved
for eternity. |
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PREVIOUS CHAB NEWS
(Issued March 29,
2018) |
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IMPORTANT NOTICE |
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The CHAB committee
wishes to inform our foreign and American
friends that due to severe budget constraints,
the English version of our CHAB News
can unfortunately
no longer be published. However, the French
version of our quarterly remains available to
those who are contributing members of our
association. Thank you for your understanding. |
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FIRE IN
THE VALLEY |
COURTING
MISS NELLIE |
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The 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, better
known as Mosby's Rangers, was one of the most
feared and renowned combat units operating in
northern Virginia and the Lower Shenandoah
Valley. These rangers were an elite force of
scouts and guerrilla fighters who were
commanded by John Singleton Mosby. The
adventures and exploits of Mosby's Rangers
became legendary in American military history.
In early August 1864, the Federal Army came
under the command of a new leader, Major
General Phillip H. Sheridan. Sheridan began to
push his army southward down the valley and
established his headquarters south of
Winchester. Supplies for the Federal Army came
from Harper's Ferry by wagon train. On August
the 12th, Mosby gathered his men at Rectortown,
intent on interrupting Sheridan's supply line.
Mosby's force consisted of nearly 350 Rangers,
bolstered by two cannons. Sheridan's 525-wagon
train, supported by 3 regiments and a small
cavalry force left Harper's Ferry loaded with
supplies on the morning of the 12th. After
traveling all day, the wagon train camped near
Berryville at Buck Marsh Creek. Early the next
morning as the fog lifted, Federal soldiers
preparing for the day's travel were suddenly
panicked by three rounds of cannon fire,
followed by the rebel yell of charging
Southern cavalry. Pandemonium ensued, and the
Federals fled for life and limb, leaving the
supply train. After burning many of the
wagons, Mosby and his men captured 200
prisoners, 500 mules, 50 horses, 200 cattle,
along with what spoils they could carry from
the wagons. Left behind however, was a cash
box of the 8th New York Cavalry containing
$112,000. As the Rangers rode away in high
spirits, a number were trying to play melodies
on some captured fiddles, to the complaints of
their friends. Later that evening the prizes
from the raid were divided among the men, with
the prisoners and most of the cattle sent off
to the Army of Northern Virginia.. |
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Nellie Ellen Koontz was born in Edinburg,
Virginia on January 13, 1845. She was a
beautiful, precocious, and strong willed
child, being raised by her parents William J.
Koontz and Elizabeth Ann Grandstaff. Nellie’s
mother was the daughter of Major George
Grandstaff, an old US Army veteran of the
Mexican War and owner of the Edinburg Mill. As
the American Civil War raged throughout much
of the country in 1862, Nellie was a 17 year
old teenager going to school, working on the
farm, and helping her grandfather at the mill.
Little did she know she would become a heroine
in the Shenandoah, when the “Yanks” came
calling 1864. Women did what they could to
help in the war effort. As men left to join
the army, the responsibilities of raising
children and running the farm became theirs.
Many served as nurses, helping wounded
soldiers, often times in their own homes.
Woman applied their skills at making clothing,
blankets, quilts and even socks, for the army.
But despite the war, life went on. Friendships
were made. Eligible young girls would attend
parties and dances to meet young men. They
would write letters to their sweethearts who
were away serving in the army, hoping for
their safe return. In the autumn of 1864 the
war would arrive in the little town of
Edinburg. Union General Philip Sheridan sent
his soldiers to burn down the Grandstaff Mill
and anything of value to the Confederate Army.
Nellie and her cousin Melvina galloped to
Sheridan’s headquarters to plead with him for
mercy, as their grandfather was a US war
veteran. Sheridan rescinded his orders for the
destruction of the mill, and the two girls
galloped back to Edinburg saving the mill in
the nick of time. After the war was over,
Nellie married Newton French McCann and the
couple would have three children. After a long
and happy life, Nellie passed away in Edinburg
on September 19, 1927. To this day the legend
of her exploits during the Civil War lives on
in the Shenandoah Valley. |
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For
information or online orders: |
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www.johnpaulstrain.com |
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