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Confederate Cemetery in Ohio

While I was attending other business, I just happened to come upon a Confederate Cemetery in Columbus Ohio. I never knew that this place existed, especially in such an unlikely place in the middle of a large metropolis in the North. I doubt whether the locals even know of it’s existence, or the history behind this graveyard.

The area where the cemetery is presently located was a training camp for Ohio Soldiers during the Civil War. Called Camp Chase, it also served as a parole camp, a muster-out post, and a place of confinement for confederate prisoners-of-war. As many as a 150,000 Union soldiers and 25,000 Confederate prisoners once lived here from 1861-1865. And where more than 2,000 Confederates died and are currently buried in the existing cemetery. Some of the Confederates prisoners that were interned here were participants in Morgan’s Raid, a diversionary incursion by Confederate cavalry into the Union states of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. More than likely they were probably captured after the Battle of Buffington Island in 1863, the largest battle in Ohio during the Civil War and a future subject for a painting I plan on doing.

You would expect a cemetery containing the graves of enemy soldiers of a war that was fought over 150 years ago would look run down and unkept, but it is quite the opposite. For the most part, the headstones look clean and fresh, arranged in neat rows. The grass is cut short and well maintained. The look is quite similar to other military cemeteries containing the graves of fallen soldiers of more recent wars. In the middle of the cemetery sits a large boulder, over which is built a stone arch topped with a statue of a Confederate soldier. Inscribed in the boulder it is written “2260 Confederate soldiers of the war 1861 – 1865 buried in this enclosure.” In the stone arch above is inscribed the words “Americans”. A reminder that all of the fallen warriors, blue and gray, are americans.

There are also other features that are in the cemetery. There is a small plaque topped with a cannonball from the Battle of Vicksburg. A roadside marker just outside the front gate along Sullivant Ave. gives a brief description and history of Camp Chase. Inside the walls of the cemetery is a an interpretive marker with photos giving a more detailed description of the site. Since my time there was limited, this is all I saw giving the time I had, so there may be other points of interest at the cemetery. I have read that interpretive sign in front of the Westgate Masonic Temple at 2925 West Broad Street, which is not far away, sits at the site of the main entrance to the Camp. But there was one sight that particularly got my attention. Placed on the grave of a sergeant was a fresh set of flowers. That someone had the time to place this on the grave of a soldier from Alabama buried so far away in the middle of Ohio reminds all of us that the sacrifice that these men made over 150 years is not forgotten.

Sketch drawing of General Elon Farnsworth.

I wrote about an earlier painting of Farnsworth at Gettysburg in an earlier post. Even thought there are some things I like about it, I am not totally satisfied with that painting. I feel I can do better.

Here is my updated sketch. I just want Farnsworth on horseback to be the focus of the painting. I will eventually put in additional figures, but they will be painted as supporting characters. Not much color and very little detail. The same goes for the kneeling Confederate soldier in the foreground. Farnsworth was described as a tall man. I will have to adjust for this in the final painting as in the sketch he looks somewhat short.

In my initial sketch drawing of General Elon Farnsworth, he is pointing at the Confederate soldier with a pistol. I also have him holding a pistol in my previous painting. I am not sure why I did this. Going back and reading eyewitness accounts of the action, most describe Fansworth as holding a sword. Instead of redrawing of erasing, I sketched a hand holding a sabre separately and then scanned the drawing. Then using Photoshop I was able to replace the hand holding the pistol with the updated version with the sabre.

Influences – Frank Frazetta

One of the artist that I use as inspiration is Frank Frazetta. He was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books and paperback book covers, especially Conan the Barbarian. He would apply great detail only to the main subject of the painting. The rest of the work is just  generalized with a minimum amount of color and sharpness. It as almost as if this depicts a stage play, with the spotlight shining on the main character. He also had the ability to show tension and movement, through the posing of the figures and the overall layout and design. This feeling of action comes through even if the figures in the painting are just standing around. If you would to see and know more about Frank Frazetta, you can visit his website at http://frankfrazetta.net/

Painting of General Farnsworth at Gettysburg

The past week was the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. This prompted me to pull out a painting of General Farnsworth at Gettysburg I did a few years back. It depicts the moment the Union cavalry engaged the well positioned 15th Alabama on the last day of the battle.

The attack

Late in the afternoon on July 3rd, 1863, Brigadier General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, commanding the Union 3rd Division, ordered Farnsworth to make a charge with his brigade against Confederate positions south of the Devil’s Den area of the battlefield, below Little Round Top. This was done because the Confederate assault (Pickett’s Charge) on Cemetery Ridge was repulsed and Union commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade wanted to create a diversion to weaken any resistance to the Union counterattack.

The plan was considered almost suicidal against a well entrenched enemy over broken, undulating ground with large boulder, fences and woodlot. But, despite his objections, Farnsworth led the attack. The attack failed with great losses, Farnswoth among them. He became the only federal officer of general rank to be killed behind enemy lines during the American Civil War.

The painting

The painting was done in oil on 18″ x 24″ Gesso Board. This depicts the moment Farnsworth and his cavalry encountered the enemy, both sides with guns drawn. Looking with a fresh perspective, feel I can do better composition wise. There is too much of a gap in the middle of the painting. I would like to condense the action a little more to simulate the tension of the moment. Maybe with Farnsworth more in the foreground and centered. I am not sure how I am going to do this but I will work on some sketches.

Additional Information on Farnsworth at Gettysburg

To learn more about this part of the battle, I have attached some links below:

Judson Kilpatrick, Farnsworth’s Charge, and the Hard Hand of History

Elon Farnsworth: A “What If?” of Gettysburg

Battle of Cedar Creek Civil War Reenactment

Sometimes I like to attend Reenactments to obtain reference photos for my art. One of the best I have seen was in 2015, when my wife and I went to the Battle of Cedar Creek Civil War Reenactment.

The Battle

The Battle of Cedar Creek took place in October 19, 1864, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, near Middletown. The Confederate forces, under Lieutenant General Jubal Early, appeared close to victory in the morning. But Major General Philip Sheridan, commander of the Union forces, rallied his men in the afternoon and drove off the opposing forces.

The Reenactment

There are several cool things about this civil war reenactment that were different from others I have attended. The first is that I believe it is the only reenactment that takes place on the actual grounds of the fighting. Another is that it takes place in mid October, so you don’t have to deal with the extreme heat as you would in other reenactments. The cool weather (we wore light jackets) made it quiet comfortable for us and the viewing public. And I am sure it is a relief for the reenactors themselves, having to wear heavy, thick uniforms of the period. Lastly, the view is quiet spectacular. We were elevated enough to get a grand view of the show (as you can see from the photos I took). And with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background, the panoramic scene is quite beautiful.

If you would like to attend the 2022 reenactment, click on the link below:
158th Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek, October 15th and 16th, 2022.

To find out more about the battle, you can check out the The American Battlefield Trust site.
Cedar Creek Battle Facts and Summary

How I use Photoshop to transfer a sketch to canvas.

There are many ways of transferring a sketch to canvas for painting. I used to use a grid system, since my painting area is always larger than my pencil drawing. But since I have a computer and a printer, I am now using Photoshop to transfer a sketch to canvas. The following is how I do it.

For this example, I will refer to the painting I am currently working on, The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. You can read more about this in a previous post here.

I begin with the sketch, which I usually do on a standard drawing pad, and then I scan the art. If the drawing is too big for the scanner, I scan one part, then scan another part. In this case, the main figure is one sketch. The foreground figures are another sketch. Usually I set the scan for 150 dpi, although it really doesn’t matter. As long as it can print out a rough of the drawing.

Using Photoshop

Now I move over to Photoshop. When I take the drawing or drawings into Photoshop, I like as much contrast as possible. I achieve this by going to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast. Then I cut and past the images into a new Photoshop document. In the new document, I try to match the proportions of the final artwork as close as I can. For a 30″ x 24″ canvas, I set the artboard size to 10″ x 8″. So now I should have the drawings in the new document, each on its own layer.

The great thing about using Photoshop, I can move elements around. In this case, I felt the 2 foreground figures were too close to the main figure. So I just moved them down a bit. Another thing is that I can add to the sketch if necessary. In this example, I did not like that the rifle of the central soldier extends off the artboard. It would work better if the rifle is at more of an angle. So I just redrew only the hand and the rifle, scanned that, and then imported into the Photoshop file, replacing the old rifle.

Printing out the enlarged sketch

Once everything looks good, I need to print out the sketch for transferring to the canvas. Since the canvas size is 3 times the artboard size, I print out at 300%. Since I only can print out on letter size paper, I will tile the sketch and then tape the papers together. As you can see in the images, I printed out 5 sections of the sketch. Once printed, I just used tape assemble the prints.

Now I lay a sheet of tracing paper over the enlarged printout of the sketch. Using the method described here, I use the tracing paper to transfer the drawing to the canvas.

If you don’t have access to scanner or printer, I have attached a link on other methods to transfer a drawing.
How to transfer an image onto canvas

The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm painting

I am in the process of creating an oil painting of The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm in Virginia. This took place during the Petersburg campaign of 1864. The artwork would be part of my series on Ohioans during the American Civil War, of which I wrote about in an earlier post.

The focus of the painting would show First Sergeant Robert Pinn of the 27th Ohio Volunteer Infantry leading his men against the enemy breastworks.  For his heroics, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, one of only four Black Americans from Ohio to do so. When I did my research for the battle, I did not know much about this action. Came to find out that out of a total of 16 Medal of Honors awarded to Black Americans during the Civil War, 14 of them were from this battle. As far as I can find out, there are no depictions of Robert Pinn’s actions during this engagement. I feel that there needs to be.

What to paint

Just like all art, the hardest thing about painting of the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm is how to illustrate the scene. The challenge is not only show Pinn leading his men, but to also show the landscape and the Confederate defenses. This presents quite a challenge. I decided that having the viewpoint of one of the Pinn’s soldier is the answer. The painting would depict Pinn turning towards the viewer as if he was urging you on to press the attack. At the same time, he is pointing towards the objective, the enemy defenses. I have included a very rough sketch of how I would pose Pinn in the painting.

More about Robert Pinn

To learn more about the life of Robert Pinn and his accomplishments during and after the war, visit the American Battlefield Trust page.  You can also hear a very interesting podcast about his life by visiting the web page African American Passages Episode 3: Robert Pinn’s Left Hand. And there is another link about Robert Pinn with video on the News 5 Cleveland site.

Ohioans in the American Civil War

I have the good fortune of having a chance to display some of my art in a local gallery early next year. I thought it might be nice to have some sort of motif to tie the pieces together. Therefore, I am concentrating on producing paintings that depict Ohioans in the American Civil War.

I have already completed one oil civil war painting with a subject that is Ohio related. Colonel Hayes at the Third Battle of Winchester depicts the future president of the United States on horseback plunging into a swamp. He did this on impulse under fire to spur his men on to show the miry creek was navigable.

So having one painting ready to go, I will need to produce a few more that embody the Ohio theme. Fortunately, Ohio was well represented during the conflict. Nearly 320,000 Union soldiers came from Ohio. The state also provided 230 regiments of infantry and cavalry, 26 light artillery batteries, 2 heavy artillery regiments, and 5 independent sharpshooter companies. So I knew I would have no shortage of material to build upon. I also looked up Ohioans who were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Civil war. 207 recipients of the award were either born are served in an Ohio regiment.

I am excited about both the show next year and about the paintings of to come. I already have visions of what I would to depict on canvas, and I can’t wait to get started. (Actually, I already have begun a painting concerning Ohioans in the American Civil War during the Battle of Franklin. But more about that later in another post.)

To read more about Ohio and its role in the American Civil War, click on the following links:
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Category:Civil_War
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Ohio_in_the_Civil_War
http://touringohio.com/civil-war-ohio.html

 

Visiting the Civil War Monument in La Grange, Ohio

Just this last weekend, as my wife and I visited my son and his fiance in their new house, we passed through a small town name La Grange, where there stands a large Civil War monument dedicated to soldiers of the nearby area who served in wars before 1903. On the way back home, we stopped so I could have my picture taken, and view the monument more closely.

The monument is about 25 ft tall with a large square base at the bottom. On each side of the bottom has a Union General’s name and the name of the battle at the base (Except for Thomas, which has a dedication plaque instead of battle below it). In between are inscribed the names of the men who served in the armed forces, with one side dedicated to the ones who gave their lives. The pedestal at top is of a sculpture of a Union soldier with a sword in one hand and the flag in the other.

On closer look, it seems that with the exception of the names of the soldiers that served, the monument is pretty generic. You would think that the Generals honored would have some sort of connection other than that they served for the Union. I thought that maybe there was an Ohio connection, which would have made sense. Both Ulysses Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman were born in Ohio, but George Thomas was born in Virginia and Philip Sheridan in New York. My guess is that they were chosen because they were the most successful of the Union commanders. Upon further research, my observation of the monument being somewhat generic may not be far off.

Monuments were sometimes mass produced

In an online article called “The Surprising Reason Why So Many Civil War Memorials Look Almost Exactly the Same”, many monuments were mass-produced and could be ordered from a catalog! As Kirk Savage, author of Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War and Monument in Nineteenth-Century America, explains: “With dealers and catalogs of readymade soldier figures, the industry could supply soldier monuments cheaply and quickly to local communities without them even having to approach a sculptor.” You can read more and view a video about this by clicking here.

The Attack upon the Chew House by Howard Pyle

The Attack upon the Chew House is a painting by Howard Pyle, a noted American illustrator known mostly for his depictions of pirates, medieval characters, and Revolutionary War themes. He also founded the Brandywine School in Wilmington, Delaware. The painting was done for Henry Cabot Lodge’s “The Story of the Revolution”, that appeared in Scribner’s Magazine for June 1898. You can see the painting here: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/asset/the-attack-upon-the-chew-house-by-howard-pyle/

I can’t remember the first time I saw this painting. It was most likely when I was in elementary school, in some history book that I checked out from the Library, or maybe the school textbook. Regardless, I had mostly forgotten about this work until I purchased a book of Howard Pyle’s work from a discount book store.

I love the way the dark uniforms contrast greatly with the rest of the painting, drawing the eye towards the soldiers as they advance towards the house. The position and posture of the running soldiers really gives a sense of movement from right to left as they attempt to storm the house, with bodies in a half-run and faces showing the determination of battle, all facing the objective. The only exception is the wounded and dead, and the one man with the sword raised on the steps facing the total opposite of everyone else. Really cool! I also like that the background is really abstract and gray, in contrast to the detail of the soldiers in the foreground.

When I look at this painting, I have mind to paint a similar work but depicting an event in the American Civil War. I don’t know in what exact scenario this would have happened where soldiers stormed a house in the same manner, although I would bet this occurred many times. The one situation I can think of offhand is during the final assault by the Confederates at the battle of Gaines Mill, where the Watt House was part of the Union defensive line that was overrun by the massive Southern charge near the end of the battle. I will have to research more to find out if this would work.

The Attack upon the Chew House is housed at the Delaware Art Museum. Maybe one of these days I can go there myself.
https://delart.org/