Conversation in this series that argues that objects have the power to convey historical events and to help us understand the passed. This idea inspired Harold Holzer book, the civil war in 50 objects. The objects which were taken from the New York Historical society. This evening, we will be looking at five objects from the book and related Exhibition Group surrounding the theme of art of war. So these works are all very different and have very different background stories. We have the return of the 69th irish regiment. A caricature of lincoln writing the emancipation proclamation. We have a painting of an episode of war and some prison art. First, lets look at the relationship between more and art i harold. Did war stimulate part in america and did our change the romantic image of war . I think both. Valerie, good evening. Thanks for having me back. I think the great emphasis of the american painting up to the civil war is history painting and landscape painting. Portraiture continued much the same. Of course, it took on a martial air where all the military heroes were portrayed. But it sent many more artists into the field or near the field to paint. Soldier artists proliferated. Artists like winds low home or went to the field to do sketches for the weekly newspaper. A very successful artist. But in terms of what it did to landscaping, it totally revolutionized the romantic attitude artists had toward this socalled american eaten. The pristine landscape of the americas. It was the landscape was ravaged by gunfire and the land was stained by blood. So it really changed the way this Great American art form was recorded drawing and after the war. Of course, the war kept artists busy for many years after the war. Commissions from military lodges, armorys and the united daughters of the confederacy and all these organizations that kept clambering for pictures. Statues as well. Statues, as we know. Well, lets start with our first object or painting of the evening. That is louis langs return of the 69th irish 60 night regiment. This was painted in 1962. This is a huge painting, it is seven feet by nine feet. A masterpiece of 19th century public relations. What do you call it that . It made great heroes of a military unit that fought pretty well. In the end however, unsuccessfully as did all the union troops at the battle of bull run. But this was important for morale because it was the irish brigade of new york. The unit that robert e. Lee later nicknamed the fighting 69th in admiration. And its early permutation, it was recruited and was very important to the union war effort. The german americans and Irish Americans who had different political points of view, were both recruited and both raised their own regiments. This one went off very early in the war in the spring of 1861 down to virginia. It established itself in Arlington Heights where they built fortifications for washington. It was very irish. Colonel cochrane who is the commander had a Catholic Priest sprinkled holy water on the first cannon at fort cochrane that was named in his honor. They marched very proudly the war. Cochrane was an irish boy. He was 33 years old. He was a member of the fenian brotherhood. We have an image detail. That will not be cocaine, so we should not go to it. Sorry. Yes. I should point out, this fella was not cochrane. Because at the battle of bull run itself, where our irish regiment fought very bravely, cochrane was captured by the confederates and he remained in prison for a year. When he was finally released, lincoln gave him and other officers who had been imprisoned a state dinner at the white house. These early recruits only work for 90 days. Cochrane was there for a whole year in prison, i guess. Yes. He was an exception. But after 90 days, the fighting 69th cloth no more. Just this unit came back in a ship to battery park. The fellow waving his hat in the painting is cochranes successor. I these portraits were painted by the irish community. The 69th saw combat in the battle of bull run in 1861 as part of a brigade that was actually commanded by william sherman. What happened to them there . They did okay. They did well. They were brave, but again, the battle of bull run was won by the union in the morning. The only problem was that the afternoon came after the morning and the confederates charged back and won the day. So it was a huge embarrassment. Especially when these guys have done more than participated in what became a real disaster. Yes. But they did receive quite an unexpected welcome when they arrived in manhattan a week later. What sort of things are depicted in the painting . You can see the crowd surging around meagher. This is my favorite detail, because ive written so often about popular prints. This is an image of and news boy selling engravings or lithographs of colonel corcoran, who was suffering in a prison camp. They came back and the brigade was smart enough and wealthy enough to commission this, as you point out valerie, this humongous painting. It was displayed and intended for their essex street armory. After the siege, they marched to essex street on the Lower East Side and stack their arms. We do not know where this painting ultimately wound up, but it did have a great display at a gallery on ninth avenue. It won rave reviews from critics. It was pretty famous in its day. It ultimately became a bit of a artistic curiosity. Why . Two years after this seen, the city erupted in draft riots as we discussed in an earlier program. So many irish and Irish Americans participated that it became kind of politically incorrect to celebrate the early Irish American contributions to the union war effort. So this painting just deteriorated. Thank goodness, louis lang donated it to the Historical Society 25 years after this seen. The great thing is that, when it was finally discovered in storage, it was restored magnificently in time for our exhibition in the civil war. Absolutely. It was found in tatters. It was a great feat of conservation to pull it together and make it one gorgeous unit which is on the fourth floor. Lets move to our next painting. That is one of the lincoln family in 1861 by francis carpenter. This is in black and white, so it has a photographic quality to it even though it is oil on canvas. But there are no photographs of the lincoln family altogether. Why . We really dont know, but mary lincoln did not like to be photographed with her husband. The myth says because she was so much shorter, that she thought she looked dull like and did not like the comparison. She was a bit fatter as well. Not in this picture and i will explain that. Lincoln was photographed with tad. This is a rift on that famous photographed. As you say, this is painted in black and white for a very single simple reason. Because it is a preparatory piece and served as a model for a popular print. So carpenter did not bother to add color, because it would have been a standard engraving. Its interesting because there is such Public Interest these days and actually in the last century of artistic depictions of the first family. But not in this time in place and that only sort of became more the thing after lincolns assassination. In any case, that is where this painting comes in. Tell us more about this and its our interest artist francis carpenter. Carpenter was a new yorker from upstate new york. He had a gallery in new york city and he decided he wanted to paint the First Reading of the emancipation proclamation before the cabinet. He got letters of introduction and went to the white house. It was pretty open season. Lincoln liked him and let him work there for six months. But while he was there, he made sketches of the family and he commissioned the famous photograph of lincoln and tad looking at this photograph we. No one ever corrected that impression that it looks like a bible. In 1865, lincoln of course dies. Carpenter is still working on his emancipation engraving. The painting is done. He is pretty wellknown so he goes to a new york engraver, j c derby, and he works with another publisher i to do a lincoln family. Carpenters price is five and dollars, which is pretty good. When he decides to write to mary lincoln who is his buddy at this point. She suggests all of the other models, this handsome picture of robert who was then at harvard. A picture of willie who died in 1862. He is the middle Child Holding the sword. That is why it is very specifically the family in 61. When carpenter suggests one of mary, she suggests one that was taken before she gained weight. She is the one who chose this sort of flattering image. This was what was produced as a popular print. I not only where they never photographed, they were seldom together. Robert was at harvard at harvard law. He wrote that he never had ten minutes alone with his father during the entire war. Willie died 11 months into the presidency. Mary said she was fortunate if lincoln came to the bedroom to talk about the events of the day at 11 00 at night. So the civil war drove them apart, it did not bring them together. This picture was to say they were together. Perhaps to reassure americans that lincoln had a happy and United Family life. So the painter, carpenter, never got the credit that he deserved originating that powerful idea of showing the public man. The ultimate indignity was that he did get 500 dollars for, but he claimed he only sold the intellectual property. He still owned the physical canvas. However, the studio went bankrupt and eventually sold it to a new yorker named norman train. He and and carpenter was not happy. Crane came to his house to see it, not to return it, and it was crane who gave it to the Historical Society. He was going to add color and that was his ploy to get it back, but he didnt. And he didnt. Lets move on to our next artistic work. This is an etching of lincoln writing the proclamation of emancipation. Were in the middle of the civil war, it is getting difficult for the confederacy to circulate morale building artwork depicting battlefield triumphs. That is for one practical reason. Most of the able bodied artists were fighting in the war. This is actually an interesting thing to contemplate right now, is sculptural monuments of the confederacy being pulled down. There were none being done at the time of the civil war. There were artistic works. So tell us about this fellow who created this etching, the artist. He is also a hyphenated american. He was born in bavaria. Unlike most of the germans who came to the United States after the revolutions of 1848 failed in europe, he was an arch conservative a staunch conservative and a racist. He was not an anti slavery man. He settled in baltimore. The surroundings an environment make a man by the way in a way. He was a dentist by trade and obviously a very gifted draughtsman. He made these series of antiunion and pro confederate etchings throughout the civil war. He published them secretly with a fake london copyright. Baltimore was occupied quite early in the war by the union and artists like him were shut down. Print makers who sympathized with the confederacy were shut down. He was operating in total secret. He was not influential at the time, but he was venomous towards lincoln. Look at this. Unlike carpenter who portrayed lincoln writing almost as a divine presence, this lincoln is writing the emancipation proclamation from in ink well that is held by satan. He has his foot on the holy bible to do it. Look at the clothes or devils heads on the table. There is liqueur on the cabinet nearby. The table nearby. If he was not influenced by the devil, he had to be drunk. Heres a picture of john brown. John brown is the evil influence over lincoln. There is a painting of the slave rebellion in hanging. The figure over lincoln is actually the statute of columbia, a symbol for the country. Pulled over its head is the kind of scottish tab that lincoln allegedly wore to escape notice on his trip to baltimore. It is a very inside joke. But clearly, it is not very favorable towards the proclamation. Not at all. But this is part of a series called sketches from the civil war in north america. Some of the other images in that series also depicts something fake news like i think in a way. Yes. Cave life in vicksburg, i believe we have shown that one. That was him as well. Southern women melting church bells to make cannons for their holy cause. Lots of antilincoln stuff. Lincoln and general Benjamin Butler as donkey hotel and sonne show penza. Its interesting. They should mention lincoln and volker because volker apparently had a change of heart after lincolns assassination or did he . So he said, right. He said he always regretted that he was ever mean to that lovely man. But he painted he went on to paint, but his paintings were of robert e. Lee. Stonewall jackson. He did confederate inspired paintings. He never did a lincoln painting that showed any kind of, you know, sense of having regretted what he did. Yes. Lets move on to our next image. This is also a large painting, not quite as large as return of the 69. This is called an episode of war, the cavalry charge of lieutenant by an artist named victor melody. We called it a Hidden Treasure in the book i know that is something i have to keep apologizing for. Thats cute. It is a dramatic scene so we dont want to minimize it. So this was a youthful well connected new yorker, and tell us a bit about him and this particular episode of war. Harold he was a very young man, 23 years old when he joined company h of the first new york cavalry. Yes, there were calvary units in new york. A brave young guy. His family were very wealthy shipbuilders. He was mercantile royalty, to be sure. He led a man into virginia, and one day at a place called sangster station, he saw an unguarded exposed flank of general Joe Johnstons confederate army, and he let his cavalry and broke through and created havoc and really pushed them back. Unfortunately in the midst of the charge, and that is what this is supposed to represent, his hand is not held upright, and that is because the has just been shot through the neck. Valerie it is kind of remarkable. It does not diminish the dramatic nature of the canvas, but it was a relatively insecure incident even in its own time. Why was it obscure . Harold this little skirmish was not a major battle. Second of all, there were two major events going on the same day, the merrimack battle and the battle of peerage in the west. They were more well covered by the media. This could have led to a battle, but johnsons army just waited for another day. As you mentioned when we started, the family was wealthy. The original title of this painting was much more dramatic than the gallant charge of lieutenant harry hidden. I dont know why they changed it to an episode of the war. It was commissioned by the family and displayed in regiments for years. Even though he is considered i doubt, because this is 1862, he is considered the first Union Cavalry officer to die during the war. I am not sure that is possible, but we will go with it by now. If we could think back to colonel corcoran. He got out of prison, he recovered, he went back into the service, and ignominiously he was killed when his horse fell on him. What the battle of bull run could not do the to colonel corcoran. I do not like horses. A lot of people do. They petrified me. So all power to henry hidden for doing all this. Valerie yes, that is henry hiddens claim to fame, the first Union Cavalry officer killed in a sort of like our guy last week. [laughter] he gets it. You do mention this painting has a new light on the harsh realities of the war. What are some of the details that stand out for you . Harold the first images of war were pretty bucolic, even though the landscape is turning red. But this is really handtohand combat, it is swords, bayonets, rifles, confusion. It is trees shorn of leaves. It is not romantic at all. It is tough and it is scary. Youve got these foreignborn artists who are really revising the idea of war. So far, i think we have done all except for carpenter, they are all foreignborn artists. America was kind of speaking with a foreign accent at the time anyway. They say 40 of the union army spoke with some kind of a foreign accent, which is remarkable. Valerie it is remarkable. We are down to our last five artworks or artistic impressions of war. This is a Point Lookout sketch. Watercolor drawings. During the four years of the civil war, 212,000 men and union member taking prisoner. For those men who were Strong Enough to endure the starvation and exposure, and sickness and all around hellish circumstances, we have learned that that creativity helped them survive. So the artist of the sketches, was one such soldier. Tell us a bit about him. Harold what we know is i am assuming he was foreignborn, but certainly germanamerican in some way. He was a folk artist and a candy maker before the war. Confectionery, he was called. Austrian by dissent, settled in baltimore, got up early and saw some action in the first regiment. He survived in the war for some time, but it caught up with him in 1864 and he was captured at petersburg and imprisoned at a hot and steamy camp on the southern shore of maryland called Point Lookout, where at its peak 20,000 men were kept in pretty tough circumstances on 23 acres. It was not as crowded as andersonville or l myra, but a pretty tough situation. Prisoners were exchanged at the beginning of the work, but by 1864, general grant said no more exchanges because imprisoned soldiers hurt the confederate side more than ours because we can always replenish. But omenhausser was gifted. I think he sold some of these developers and are because we have evidence some of them wrote home saying there is a very clever artist here. Ithe was captured by a black soldier. What makes this piece remarkable is he shows africanamerican soldiers guarding him, which for a southerner must have been a deep kind of humiliation, which we know is nice retribution. Valerie i think we actually have that in the next slide. It is interesting because he was painted in so many artworks and it is such a huge body of work that it was thought of the work of more than one person, but it seems to just be his. At the newyork Historical Society, the Art Collection has