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CONFEDERATE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF BELGIUM |
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NEXT MEETING |
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Saturday September 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 October 11, 2025 at 3 PM |
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US FEDERAL
INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS IN EUROPE 1861-1865
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Lecture by Professor Francis Balace:
U.S. Federal Intelligence Operations in Europe
1861-1865.
Widely regarded as the first “total war,” the American
Civil War inevitably devoted significant resources to
espionage and covert operations. There’s no need to
revisit well-known figures like Belle Boyd, Allan
Pinkerton, the Great Locomotive Chase, or the Confederate
raid on St. Albans, Vermont. On the European front,
Commander Bulloch’s “Secret Service” was secret in name
only, as its shipbuilding operations were carried out more
or less in the open. To uncover these efforts – often
through private detectives, hired henchmen, and
unscrupulous journalists – the U.S. government turned to
Henry Shelton Sanford, its Minister to Belgium. His
posting in Brussels, considered uneventful, allowed him to
become a kind of “legation on wheels,” shuttling
constantly between London, Paris, Hamburg, and Liège.
Sanford relied on the “good offices” of some of the
earliest private detective agencies, sometimes unaware
that their operatives were fabricating sensational tales –
such as the claim that the captain of the CSS Alabama
was a Belgian from Louvain named Maes! John Fitzpatrick,
the Catholic Bishop of Boston, played an unusual role: he
presided at the Legation, recruited informants, and
received their reports. The Confederacy, by contrast,
seemed to prefer a different kind of secret weapon:
crinolines. Sanford’s predecessor as Minister, E.Y. Fair –
a Democrat from Alabama appointed by President Buchanan –
used his final weeks in Brussels to order arms for the
Confederate army, which he promptly joined. His wife,
however, remained behind. Mrs. Fair retained the seal of
the Legation and used it to disguise shipments of lace –
or more questionable goods, if needed. Rumor had it she
was on particularly friendly terms with Charles Rogier,
the Belgian Prime Minister. Meanwhile, in Paris, Union
Minister William Dayton died under circumstances that
would eerily foreshadow those of Félix Faure some thirty
years later, at the Hôtel du Louvre, in the arms
of Sophie Brécart, a voluptuous Creole from Louisiana with
a reputation as both a courtesan and, allegedly, a
Confederate spy. To avoid scandal – which broke anyway –
his body was discreetly removed by cab, propped upright
with a walking stick. Who ever said history was boring? |
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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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Saturday December 13, 2025 at 3 PM |
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CONFEDERATE
ESPIONAGE IN MONTREAL FROM 1861 THROUGH 1865
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Lecture by Maurice Jaquemyns:
Confederate Espionage in Montréal from 1861 through 1865.
Starting in 1860, Montréal became the largest headquarters
for Confederate secret services outside of Richmond. The
Canadian metropolis welcomed a diverse array of Southern
figures – refugees, mercenaries, spies, and smugglers. But
how can this be explained? First, the speaker will examine
the geopolitical context of relations between Canada and
the United States in order to understand the sympathetic
attitude of part of the Canadian political sphere. He then
will then focus on tracing the roles and activities of
influential Southern leaders in Montreal, particularly how
the plot to assassinate Lincoln, led by Booth, was
coordinated and financed. The presentation will be
illustrated with period photographs and a portfolio of
texts. |
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AMBUSH AT EDINBURG |
FIRST TEXAS AT MANASSAS |
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On the moonlit nights of February and March of
1862, federal soldiers described seeing a
ghostly figure on a white horse moving along
the hilltops and ridges of the Shenandoah
Mountains. The ghostly figure was Colonel
Turner Ashby on his white stallion, marking
federal positions through the trees. Union
officers constantly worried about Ashby’s
cavalry, and a possible attack at any moment.
Ashby’s mantle of mystery created fear in
their ranks. Turner Ashby was known as the
most accomplished horseman in the Confederacy.
He was raised in the Shenandoah Valley and
became an expert rider and trainer of horses.
In those peaceful prewar days, Turner won many
riding tournaments in Virginia. In these
contests he often used the title, “Knight of
the Black Prince.” It was said he rode two of
the best horses of the army. His favorite was
a huge white stallion named “Tom Telegraph”
the other a dark stallion named “Gallant
Gray.” In 1861 the charismatic Ashby organized
his friends and family members into a militia
cavalry company who became known as the
“Mountain Rangers.” These young men were
highly skilled horsemen and expert pistol
marksmen. When the war began the Mountain
Rangers officially became Company A of the 7th
Virginia Cavalry, later known as part of the
“Laurel Brigade.” At Harpers Ferry, the unit
was placed under the command of Colonel Thomas
J. “Stonewall” Jackson and began honing their
unit fighting skills against the federal army.
On July 23, 1861, Ashby was promoted to Lt.
Col. of the 7th Virginia Cavalry. By early
1862 the Laurel Brigade had reached an
enormous size of 27 infantry and cavalry
companies. Ashby was promoted to the rank of
full colonel on February 12, 1862. On the 25th
of February the federal army under the command
of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks crossed the
Potomac River at Harpers Ferry and advanced
towards Winchester and General Stonewall
Jackson’s army. General Banks was supported by
General James Shields division. As the federal
force of over 30,000 men slowly approached
Winchester, the town was evacuated by Jackson
on March 11th. While Jackson’s army of 17,000
moved south, Col. Ashby when to work
protecting the rear, skirmishing constantly
with the federal vanguard. Ashby and his
cavalry were continuously seeking points of
attack, with audacious bold surprise attacks,
leaving the federals in a state of anxiety and
fear as to what General Jackson had in store.
Ashby was a master of asymmetric warfare,
using the valley’s terrain to his advantage.
At Fisher’s Hill, his men quietly hid in thick
woods and waited until the federals passed,
then rushed upon them from the rear. At Stony
Creek near Edinburg, Ashby’s men swooped down
from concealment capturing many prisoners as
others fled in panic. A federal officer
described Ashby’s cavalrymen as “leaping over
fences like deer.” Historians credit Ashby
with 26 ambushes against Union forces during
this time. When attacking the larger federal
force, it was the Laurel Brigade’s Captain
R.P. Chew’s Battery keeping the enemy at bay.
Another federal officer in Bank’s army said he
had learned to look for Ashby’s shells as
regularly as he did for breakfast. On the
21st, while Ashby was skirmishing with the
federals between Edinburg, Woodstock, and
Strasburg, the federal army began to retreat
north. Banks had received orders to bring his
army back. But now the tables were turned, and
Stonewall Jackson was in pursuit. Ashby’s
ambushes played a crucial role in slowing
General Bank’s advance into the valley and
covering General Jackson’s movements. Colonel
Ashby’s aggressive and independent actions
earned him a legendary reputation as the Black
Knight of the Confederacy.
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© All copyrights reserved
by John Paul Strain Historical Art
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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
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For information or online orders: |
www.johnpaulstrain.com |
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