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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

THE DATES OF THE ACTIVITIES MENTIONED BELOW ARE INDICATIVE ONLY. THEY MAY BE MODIFIED ACCORDING TO THE EVOLUTION OF THE CORONA VIRUS PROPAGATION AND LOCKDOWN MEASURES IN FORCE IN THE COURSE OF THE YEAR 2021. AN EMAIL WILL BE SENT TO ALL OUR MEMBERS IN DUE TIME, SPECIFYING THE EFFECTIVE DATES OF OUR NEXT MONTHLY MEETINGS.

CANCELLATION NOTICE

Following the lockdown measures in force until further notice, the CHAB committee is compelled to cancel the meeting of 8 May. This activity will be rescheduled on 12 June 2021.

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Saturday 12 June 2021 at 2.30 PM

VICKSBURG 1863 - THE UNION TAKES CONTROL OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

At our temporary premises in Wolubilis, lecture by Jean-Claude Janssens: Vicksburg 1863 - The Union takes control of the Mississippi River. Command of this river was essential for both belligerents. In October 1862, the northern steamroller began to move south. Its objective: Vicksburg, Mississippi. General Ulysses Grant arrives at the gates of the city after a six-month campaign. On July 4, 1863, after 43 days of siege, Confederate General John Pemberton is forced to surrender the town. On July 9, Port Hudson in turn capitulates. The Union has regained control of the great river. The Confederacy is cut in half; this is the turning point of the war. The day before, Lee’s failure at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, exacerbated a complex situation. The hope of a final victory for the South is now fading. Our speaker will relate these decisive events of the Civil War with period maps and photographs.

Saturday 11 September 2021 at 3 PM

THE SECRET MISSION OF GENERAL POLIGNAC IN 1865

At our temporary premises at Wolubilis, lecture by Daniel Frankignoul: The secret mission of General Polignac in 1865, a Confederate retrocession of Louisiana to France in exchange for the support of Napoleon III? In March 1901, the Washington Post published an article accusing General Polignac of having led a secret mission in 1865, proposing to Emperor Napoleon III the retrocession of Louisiana to France in exchange for an armed intervention in favor of the Confederate States. The newspaper added that before deciding, Napoleon frequently consulted Lord Palmerston and that Queen Victoria personally intervened, before reluctantly rejecting the proposal. Prince Camille de Polignac did indeed leave Shreveport, the capital of Confederate Louisiana, on January 9, 1865, with the agreement of Governor Henry W. Allen and General Edmund Kirby Smith, Commander of the Department of Trans-Mississippi. After a trip that lasted nearly three months, he managed to pass though the blockade and continue to Paris where he met the Emperor twice. Our speaker, engaging in a genuine police investigation, will recount the episodes of this amazing journey as related by the general in his war diary. Based on historical documents, he will then tell us how Polignac refuted these allegations that were made-up 36 years after the end of the war.

Saturday 9 October 2021 at 3 PM

PROJECTION OF THE FILM 'THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE'

At our temporary premises in Wolubilis, projection of the film The Great Locomotive Chase also known as the The Andrews Raid, produced by Walt Disney studios in 1956. Fess Parker, the lead actor, was famous at the time for playing Davy Crockett. The action takes place on April 12, 1862, along eighty-eight miles of track of the Western & Atlantic Railroad line established in 1836 by the State of Georgia. The famous silent movie The General directed by Buster Keaton in 1927, already recounted this episode. Keaton displayed his sympathies for the Confederate cause and the hero that he embodied aboard the Texas – Johnny Gray, engaged to Annabelle Lee – managed to recover his locomotive General. The Disney film relates the story of Northern spy James Andrews and his twenty-two accomplices from three Ohio regiments. After seizing the locomotive General, they fled north in an attempt to destroy Confederate railroad tracks and bridges. After many adventures, they must abandon the locomotive a few miles from Chattanooga, having managed to cause little damage. Andrews and seven of his accomplices were captured, sentenced to death for espionage and hanged in Atlanta in June 1862. The screening will be preceded by an introduction by Daniel Frankignoul who will put the events in their historical context and will take the opportunity to present us a model of the locomotive General as well as various period related artefacts and documents. Duration: 1 h 28’.

Saturday 13 November 2021 at 3 PM

THE CIVIL WAR AND COMICS

At our temporary premises in Wolubilis, lecture by Maurice Jaquemyns: The Civil War and comics. Comics have explored the Civil War. With the expression codes of their art, screenwriters and/or designers have attempted to approach the event from different perspectives: historical, anecdotal, or entertainment. The speaker will try to demonstrate that comics translate an artistic specificity that fits into the historical evolution of comics.

CHAB NEWS NOTICE

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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LATEST PAINTINGS FROM JOHN PAUL STRAIN

CHRISTMAS BLESSING

FATHER CORBY

During the late months of 1862 General Thomas J. Jackson had already developed a wonderful reputation as a great leader for the southern armies. He was also known as a man of strong religious beliefs and admired not only for his victories on the battlefield but also for his love for the Lord. Some members of the army worried that Stonewall's religious fervor might cloud his judgement at times, but many others had faith the great General would be guided and helped in his endeavors by the Almighty. When asked how a servant of the Lord could lead men into battle where thousands of men would be killed, the General replied, "It is the duty of his men to fight and pray." Stonewall was a strict observer of the Sabbath and would never mail a letter that would be in transit on a Sunday. And yet so many of his battles were fought on Sundays, the soldiers believed that on that day he would have more guidance from the Almighty. In the vicinity of Martinsburg, General Jackson was directing his men to tear up as much of the B&O Railroad as possible. While he and his staff were making a reconnaissance of enemy positions, a beautiful young woman who had heard of the General's presence, ran out to meet him carrying her 18-month-old child. The young mother then handed the child up to the General and asked him to bless it for her. As the young woman placed her hand on Little Sorrel and bowed her head, the two joined in prayer as the Great Stonewall Jackson gave a Christmas blessing.

In late June of 1863 a Washington newspaper headline blared out, Invasion! Rebel Forces in Maryland and Pennsylvania. President Abraham Lincoln was more than concerned. General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia with 65,000 soldiers had crossed the Potomac with the intent to destroy the Federal army and march on to Washington. In public President Lincoln had full confidence that his Army of the Potomac would be able to stop Lee’s invasion. However Lincoln had his doubts about the army’s commander, General Hooker. The president needed a leader who had the fortitude and strength of character to lead his army in a desperate fight which could change the course of the war. He had the brave men who would give their all in battle, but he needed a leader who Lincoln said, would not be outgeneraled by Lee. Three days before the battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln announced to his war cabinet that he had replaced General Hooker with General George Meade whose nickname was the Old Snapping Turtle. The two great armies met at the sleepy little crossroads town of Gettysburg on July 1st. Lead elements of the armies engaged around the town, while the main body of the armies converged into place. President Lincoln was a constant fixture at the telegraph office, receiving dispatches, and updates, as he was poring over a map hung on the wall. For the next couple of days, the fate of the nation seemed to be hanging in the balance as Lincoln paced back and forth across the room, only to rest occasionally on a small couch. The second day of the battle General Lee attacked with the full force of his army on both flanks of the Federal lines. General Meade’s 2nd Corps, which included the Irish Brigade was placed on the left center of the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge. The Irish Brigade had the reputation as one of the best fighting brigades of the army and were led by Col. Patrick Kelly. As the thunder of the fighting grew, and shells burst along Cemetery Ridge, the Irish Brigade was told to prepare themselves for battle. Father Corby, the spiritual leader and Chaplin of the 88th infantry, had not been able to hold religious services for weeks because of the heavy marching. The reverend asked Col. Kelly if he could address the men. In one of the poignant moments of the day Father Corby gave absolution to the men of the Irish Brigade as they knelt, bowed in prayer. Soon afterward at about 3:00 P.M. the order came, Move by the left flank. Caldwell’s Division, including the Irish Brigade marched past George Weikert’s one story farm house and on into the Wheatfield, and surrounding area where some of the most heavy fighting of the day then took place. During the whirlwind of battle, the 530 men of the Irish Brigade sustained over 200 casualties at the Wheatfield and Stony Hill. Colonel Kelly was the only brigade commander of Caldwell’s division not killed or wounded. Father Corby would spend hours giving the fallen last rights and helping the wounded. President Lincoln would say about his soldiers in the Gettysburg address "... that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion...”.

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