On My Drawing Board: 150th Anniversary of the Confederate Attack on Fort Sumter

Monday, April 11, 2011

150th Anniversary of the Confederate Attack on Fort Sumter

Today -- or tonight, really -- marks the anniversary of the fateful day when Major Robert Anderson decided against evacuating from Fort Sumter, off the coast of Charleston, SC, as demanded by the newly-formed Confederate government, and the Confederates retaliated by shelling the fort at around 4:30 am on April 12, 1861.

Mary Chesnut, seen in my painting above entitled Mary Chesnut: Witness to War, was the wife of former senator James Chesnut, who had recently resigned from his position as U.S. senator to join the Confederacy. Her husband was one of the men who had taken a rowboat out to the doomed fort in hopes of negotiating a settlement with Major Anderson. She realized that the nation was embarking on an odyssey that would figure significantly in history, and determined to keep a diary of events as they transpired throughout the war. Though thoroughly Southern, Mrs. Chesnut is often characterized as having managed to keep a relatively unbiased accounting of all that occurred during that war. The quote seen below her image, "Woe to those who began this war, if they were not in bitter earnest," comes from a diary post much later in the war when the civilian population had grown disillusioned and weary of the conflict.

To read more about this particular painting, or to see more of the works I have produced for my personal Civil War 150 project, and the Women of Distinction series, please visit my website at http://www.civilwarfineart.com/.

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What is the "Civil War Chronology Project"?

(formerly called The Civil War 150 Project)

The commemoration of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), which was held in October of 2009, is widely considered to mark the beginning of the Sesquicentennial -- or 150th -- anniversary of the Civil War era. Over the next five years, many states and local communities will be marking the 150th anniversary of battles and important events that occurred in their areas during that era, and state and local commissions are being established to bring attention to those events.

Since I first began developing my series of images inspired by Civil War-era America and its people, my goal has always been to provide a complement to the images of battle scenes and famous generals focused on by most other Civil War artists. My approach has been to get to know these people in their pre-war identities and culture, and try to move through the War era in a chronological fashion, hoping to gain some sense of what they experienced as the War unfolded and engulfed them. My work can essentially be described as homage to life in the midst of war, but it carries a contemporary sensibility in hopes of encouraging viewers to see parallels between their lives and the lives of Americans gone before us.

The Civil War Chronology Project is the title I have given to the ongoing project I have developed for myself, to chronicle the lesser-known people and events of the Civil War era beginning with the publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852 and continuing through the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April of 1865. I currently have created more than twenty pieces which were inspired by the incidents and people in the years leading up to, and then including, the First Battle of Manassas (also known as First Bull Run). To view the works created prior to 2010, please visit my website, http://www.civilwarfineart.com/, and specifically, my Beyond the Battlefield gallery page. Since helping viewers establish a more personal connection with the people of the Civil War era is a primary goal of mine, I welcome feedback from my audience. Thank you for viewing! ~~Amy V. Lindenberger