150 Years Ago Today, July 21, 1861: First Battle of Manassas, Part 2

Yesterday's post featured The Awakening, a colored pencil painting focusing on the widely-publicized Washington civilians and politicians who came out to view the battle. But this post focuses on local citizens -- and one in particular -- who viewed the battle from the other side of Bull Run creek:

Far from Home

Soldier’s Son; Reluctant Witness

Many Civil War researchers and enthusiasts are familiar with the reports of Washington civilians riding out in their carriages to view the action of the First Battle of Manassas.  But as historian David Detzer reports in Donnybrook: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861:

          Almost overlooked in the accounts was the fact that many civilians observed the battle on the opposite     

          side of Bull Run…Their vantage point was much better than the Centreville knoll, and they could see

          more of what was happening.  One of them was a boy of about twelve… He knew his father was fighting

          over there, and he wept.

 In reading this, I was immediately struck by the idea that this is the sort of personal reality which is so often overlooked in the general histories, and yet it is so representative of what war “feels like” for those individuals who are caught up in it. Upon researching further, I learned that a woman known to us only as “Florence”, who was presumably the wife of a Confederate officer stationed near Manassas, had come to the area to stay with family in order to be closer to her husband. As a result, she found herself right in the midst of the turmoil of the battle. In a letter to her sister dated July 24^th, 1861, she describes her encounter with this young boy on the afternoon of July 21, in an area close to the field of battle known as the “Douglas Heights”:

         Near me, on a noble horse that bore the marks of long and hasty travel, sat a boy of about twelve years

         old, the son of Colonel B____s, who had come from his home near Aldie that morning. His large blue

         eyes were fixed upon the distant scene, and his handsome features were convulsed with pain as he

         exclaimed aloud: “My father is in the midst of the fight; I must go to him!”  More than one detaining hand

         was laid upon his (sic) bridle, and several old men, gathering around him, represented the impossibility of

         finding his father in such a scene…I felt the tears dimming my eyes as I strove to speak some words of

         comfort to the boy.

With little solid information about this boy, I considered what may have gone through his mind, as he rode out alone some twenty miles from his home to this field of battle. He was probably driven by a desire to see his father, whom he may not have seen in a while.  He may have thought, in initially heading out, that it would be exciting to witness the battle; he may have imagined that his father would be easy to locate; he may have been thinking back to the pageantry of parades or rallies he witnessed in the several months past. But when he arrives, he is totally unprepared for the fearful spectacle he sees: the smoke, the noise, the confusion, the vast number of troops – the “machinery” of war. 

 The paper in his hand is my own symbolic addition. Is it a letter from his father providing details about his company?  Is it a letter the boy wrote, hoping to get it to his father?  Is it a map? Regardless, it is the implication of a simple, basic human desire to connect with a loved one; a human need that, sadly, must be suppressed if the machinery of war is to be effective. Still, his deeply personal connection to the battle will not allow him the sort of detached curiosity that typified the mood of the Washington civilians watching from the other side of Bull Run Creek.

If you would like to see more of my Civil War-themed work, or are interested in ordering prints, please visit my website at http://www.CivilWarFineArt.com or email me at CivilWarFineArt@yahoo.com. 

Step 15, Sarah Emma Edmonds, II: Transformation/Liberation

Coming down the home stretch with this, now -- I'd like to be finished by Saturday so that I can have my photographer shoot it over the weekend, for entry into a couple of juried exhibitions. It's really gotten to be exciting to work on now, since the remaining areas have little to do with reality, and a lot to do with emotion, spontaneity and expression.

Step 10, Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation

Today's post is primarily a case of my wanting to add the image and see how it looked to me, presented in a different way. I guess I've been looking at it too long today. Since the theme of the piece is, after all, as its working title suggests - "Transformation" -- it's intentional on my part that the woods on the left looks quite different from the woods on the right. But while I like both sides individually, I'm still completely unclear as to how I want to make the needed transition in the middle of the composition. I guess it's a good thing that I won't be able to work on it again for at least a day or two! Maybe some time away will help me see it in a new light, just as seeing it in this posted, "mini" version might do.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 9

I've reached the point where this is starting to get very exciting to work on. It's interesting to me that for so long, the idea that I didn't know every last detail of what I was doing in a given composition was terribly intimidating to me. But now, having a basic plan in mind but staying open to the possibilities, the twists and turns that may present themselves, is what I find really interesting about creating art. I'm still a bit vague about exactly what's going to happen in the middle section of this woods, but occasionally I stop and add color and step back to see if I like the additions. And I'm definitely OK with the "not knowing", for now. I find that phenomenon interesting, and wonder if there's a similarity there to how Sarah Emma may have felt as she worked on her new, untested identity.

Step Eight, Sarah Emma Edmonds II:Transformation

I've darkened the trees on the lefthand portion of the composition, adding more branches to appear like more of a barrier to the brightly-colored woods beyond. I've also added a first layer of color (Tuscan Red) to the trees on the righthand side. I decided I needed to work a little more overall, not spending so much time developing the left side. In the middle section I'm less clear on what direction I'm going; I eventually want a more secluded, "sheltering" type of appearance to the woods and don't know exactly what that means to me, in terms of color and value. So while I give that some thought, I added trees to the righthand side. As I study it, I'm not pleased with the tilt of some of the trees on the right -- they seem to be leaning a little to the left and I find that perspective unnerving, which is definitely not what I will want for that side of the composition.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 7

My focus at the moment is on making the left third of the woods dark, threatening -- almost the sense of having been scorched by fire. To that end I've started adding some black to the trunks and limbs I want to have appear the darkest. This portion will be representative of Sarah Emma's childhood, dominated by a father who clearly resented the fact that she had been born female rather than male, and characterized by her constant frustration and bitterness at never being able to win his approval.

To view my complete series' of Civil War-themed colored pencil works, please visit http://www.CivilWarFineArt.com.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 6

A few more changes have taken place; I've started adding more Tuscan Red and Indigo Blue to the upper left trees, and some color to the figure in the small inset on the lower left. I've also begun adding a border of wormwood to that inset. I'm starting to get in the "flow", now. Working on it was sometimes a struggle, up to now, but I've got a clearer idea of what I'm trying to do so now I'm getting more excited about working on it.

Sarah Emma Edmonds II: Transformation, Step 5

Not a lot new to show; I just want to get back in the habit of posting on a more regular basis. I have started laying in the center section trees. I also spent a lot of time studying the image and deciding what to insert in the box shape in the lower middle section, as well as what might go into a similar shape in the lower far right section. I'm hoping to have more time to work on this piece this afternoon.

New Print, Battle of Gettysburg Series

When I last posted, I had optimistically thought I would have time to post this the following day. That didn't happen, but at least not too many days went by before I had a chance to add this image. This scene, titled A Ransom for Gettysburg, depicts the events of June 26, 1863, when Jubal Early arrived in Gettysburg to make his demands on the borough council for cash and supplies. After attempting to meet with the Burgess (Mayor) of Gettysburg, Robert Martin, and learning that he had already left the area, Early makes his way south from the Diamond to the Baltimore St. home of Bourough Council President David Kendlehart. For a full description of this scene, please visit http://www.CivilWarFineArt.com/images/ransom.htm.

Final, Frederick Douglass

It's hard to believe that nearly a month has passed since I last posted. I guess there's been a lot going on: The Civil War Collectors Show in Mansfield, OH, then back-to-back Saturdays of teaching a class on colored pencil techniques for the Botanical Art and Illustration program at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, followed by a workshop on paper and other surfaces for use with colored pencil in North Canton, OH and finally a one-Saturday class for a drawing group in Sewickley, PA about using solvents with colored pencil. A lot of teaching can add up to not much time for creating! But the teaching has been a very enriching experience so I don't believe I'll stop teaching anytime soon.

I was pleased to learn that a colored pencil drawing from my Gettysburg Today series -- entitled Ever-Vigilant -- was accepted into the Adams County Arts Council's 7th Annual Juried Exhibition, which will be on display at Schmucker Art Gallery on the campus of Gettysburg College, June 18 - 27. (To view the drawing now, please visit www.CivilWarFineArt.com/GettysburgToday.htm. )

Next Friday, May 28, marks the opening of my seventh season in Gettysburg at my gallery, Civil War Fine Art, located at 333 Baltimore St. I'm anxious to get back into the gallery and hope to see you there!

Next month, from June 18 - 27, I'll be participating in the Gettysburg Fringe Festival with the Debut of my Civil War 150 Project (see sidebar for explanation). I'll also be involved with the Plein Air Paint Out during the Festival, along with many of my friends from the Daily Painters of Pennsylvania blog (www.dailypaintersofpennsylvania.blogspot.com). The Festival is a wonderful cultural event; I strongly encourage you to take a look at all it has to offer at www.gettysburgfestival.org.

As you can see above, I've finished my 24" x 24" colored pencil painting of Frederick Douglass. I am now working toward having limited edition reproductions made. I'm pleased with how this piece turned out; I like the looseness and energy of the strokes, the range of color, and the expression of the eyes. So now it looks like I'd better get back to considering the next edition of "Sarah".

Step 5, Frederick Douglass

This portrait is moving along pretty quickly, since I've been working on it almost exclusively, rather than shifting back and forth from one piece to another. Now I just want to be careful to give it the time it needs, and not rush it in my enthusiasm to finish it. Still working only with the Artstix, though I did use a bit of odorless Turpenoid to blend some of the colors in the hair. I really don't intend to use the finer point pencils on this portrait at all. The hair looks too solid to me, particularly from his right temple upward and extending over to his left cheekbone, so I'll need to address that. I do like the way he's filling the space and the larger-than-lifesize scale adds drama to the expression.

Step 4, Frederick Douglass

Starting to get into some detail now, and this is where I want to be VERY careful: I like the intensity of the expression and the looseness of technique, and I don't want to dilute the effect by over-detailing the portrait. So far I've only added detail using the Artstix: Tuscan Red, Terra Cotta, Dark Umber, Black, Indigo Blue, Dark Green, Peach and Ultramarine. Right now I'm thinking I may not get into using any regular colored pencil at all. I also have lifted out some areas with a battery-powered eraser -- the Gessobord takes this type of eraser very effectively.

Step 3, Frederick Douglass

I'm using two entirely different "wet" techniques with the colored pencil for this painting. The background is done using the Derwent Inktense pencils, applied in a wash and allowed to run. The figure is done using a Tuscan Red Prismacolor Artstix, which contains wax, so even though the watercolor wash was applied in the background and allowed to drip, the area done with the wax-based pencils resists the wash, so it doesn't stick to the face. I've reddened the background somewhat with this wash layer. Also, the tones on the face and hair have been blended a bit using odorless Turpenoid, which has served to fill them in and intensify their color.

Frederick Douglass, Step 2

I've started to add more tonal areas now. The figure has been laid in so far with a Tuscan Red Artstix. The background is Derwent Inktense pencils, "liquefied" and applied with a two-inch brush, then allowed to run. At 24" x 24", he's a fairly imposing figure in my studio!

Sarah Emma Edmonds I: Departure, final (really!)

(A professional photograph makes a huge difference, in my opinion! Many thanks to my photographer, Emily Puls.) This colored pencil/mixed media (powdered graphite, Lasertran waterslide decal) painting on Gessobord measures 18" x 24". I will be displaying it for the first time in the "Palm Sunday through Resurrection" exhibition, March 26 - April 24 at Art & Soul Gallery, 900 Market St., Lemoyne, PA. How does this piece fit that theme? I have indicated in earlier posts that my goal is to have several layers of meaning in my work. When displayed in non-Civil War venues, this painting will simply carry the title, Departure. There are several biblical passages that come to mind for me with this piece, and the Resurrection would be one of them. Also, Sarah Emma's mother was a devout Christian and Emma embraced her faith wholeheartedly. Gallery owner/director Lyn O'Neal graciously invited me to participate, and I am excited to have this as my first opportunity to display this new painting.

Stage Seven, Sarah Emma Edmonds: Departure

I've been studying this piece and debating its merits for long enough now, without a firm conviction that there is more I should do. I keep feeling like I should be adding something more, but in thinking about my goals for it, I don't know that it would help it in any way to do that. There's really very little change that has taken place since the last step; I did even out the color along the right border, and have added some smaller details and refinements that wouldn't show up at this scale online. When I get it professionally photographed and added to my website (www.CivilWarFineArt.com ), hopefully those things will be more evident. This final version photographed darker than it really is; some of the color and detail in the lower section are lost.

When I say that I believe that I've come fairly close to meeting my goals with this, here is what I mean. Each new piece I add to my Beyond the Battlefield series, I strive to make successful on three different levels: 1) my reaction to or interpretation of a factual, historical person or event, 2) relevant and informed by my personal experience, 3) representative of a larger, universal truth. When I write my narratives for my works, I limit myself to only those things which refer to the historical person or event that inspired the piece. In this case, I mentioned earlier that I wanted the water to be present as a backdrop for this piece, because of what I believe would be the influence of Magaguadavic Lake on Sarah Emma's formative years. The image of the book represents an incident that Emma says had a tremendous impact on her when she was about thirteen. A peddler had visited their home, and as it was getting late in the day, Emma's mother invited the man to stay at their home until morning. When he was leaving the next day, as a token of appreciation for the family's kindness, the peddler gave Emma a novel, something that her strict father would never have allowed had he known about it. The novel was a melodramatic account of a young heroine who disguised herself as a man in order to rescue her lover from captivity. Emma recalled her feelings after reading the novel by saying, "I felt as if an angel had touched me with a live coal from off the altar" (reminiscent of an account in the biblical book of Isaiah). "I was emancipated. And I could never again be a slave." In my piece, the birds flying away from the book and the live coals, represent that emancipation. The water, very dark in the lower portion of the composition, brightens as the birds continue upward.

Sarah Emma Edmonds: Departure also has significance for me on a personal level, and I believe represents very well a more universal truth. But those are things I leave up to the viewer to ponder.

Stage Three, Sarah Emma Edmonds: Departure

This image was shot earlier today. I have made a fair amount of progress on the water imagery since the last image posted, and have now begun to include some of the other elements; most notably, the suggestion of birds flying up out of the water and to the top and right sections of the format. As the birds are meant to be symbolic, my intention is to keep them minimally described, but I'm not yet convinced that they're as developed as I'd like them to be. Part of what I like about posting things online is that it enables me to look at the composition in a slightly different way than when I'm looking at the actual work-in-progress. So I'll study it a while and contemplate my next move.

Stage Two, Sarah Emma Edmonds: Departure

This view is from October 10, 2009. Progress has been slow, for several reasons. First, I'm experimenting by using a different type of surface -- a product called Gessobord -- for this piece, which measures 18" x 24". It's a very rough, hard surface, much different from the paper surfaces I normally use, and requires a lot of pencil pressure and many layers for the pigment to really stick to the surface. Second, while I know that I want the format to be dominated by this view of choppy water -- symbolic of Magaguadavic Lake -- on whose shores Sarah Emma grew up and whose waters and character, I feel strongly, greatly impacted her, I am uncertain of the best approach to take to convey the mood I'm hoping for. Also, there are other elements which I want to incorporate into the composition and am struggling with how best to do that. So there are a lot of unanswered questions, for me, and I have a strong tendency to let it sit and focus on other things -- commission work, new images for my Christmas card series, local Gettysburg scenes. Those things don't seem quite so demanding.

Early Stage, Sarah Emma Edmonds: Departure

The piece that is currently commanding my attention deals with the life experiences of Sarah Emma Edmonds. The view seen above is from a very early stage of its development, in early August 2009.



Born on a farm on the shores of Magaguadavic Lake in New Brunswick, Canada, Sarah Emma Edmonds grew up with the constant awareness of her father's deep resentment that she was born female rather than male. As a child, Emma tried to prove herself "worthy" by assuming many of the more difficult tasks on the farm and becoming proficient in riding horses, canoeing and other skills traditionally associated with boys. When at the age of 17 her father tried to "marry her off" to a much older neighbor in order to reduce the number of mouths he had to feed at home, she had had enough. Though specific accounts vary, the record shows that she left home and in less than a year, reappeared having assumed the clothing, mannerisms, lifestyle -- and name -- of a man. She was now living as Franklin Thompson, and became a successful traveling book salesman.



Her work eventually brought her to the United States and she was living in Flint, Michigan when the Civil War began. When the first call for Union volunteers went out, Emma (now Frank) saw many of her friends enlisting and wished to do the same. After training in Washington, Emma Edmonds (alias Frank Thompson) was assigned as a male nurse to the hospital unit of the 2d Michigan Infantry, a position she held at the time of the First Battle of Manassas.



Lest readers draw the conclusion that Emma was suffering from ambivalence toward her gender identity, or perhaps was simply a cross-dresser, they should note not only that she secretly revealed her true identity in late 1861 to a fellow hospital steward with whom she had fallen in love (only to be rejected), but that in 1863, for fear of having that identity discovered when she developed malaria, she deserted the army eventually to resurface in Oberlin, OH where she resumed her life as a woman. After the war she went on to marry and give birth to three children and adopt two more. In the 1880's she petitioned the government for, and eventually became the only woman ever awarded, a full soldier's pension for her service during the Civil War.



I am finding Sarah Emma Edmonds to be an extremely complex and sometimes mysterious character and want to create a group of works to try to understand and describe her nature at various points in her life. This first piece deals with her early years, leading up to her escape from a dicatatorial father. It is not taking the form of a literal portrait, but rather will contain elements of her early experiences to give an impression of her nature during this time.