Tuesday, May 22, 2018

DC TRIP: Civil War Generals


I was pleased to meet these guys at the National Portrait Gallery. The one above, old Bobby Lee, was a surprise. He looks unlike the photos and other paintings I've seen. It was apparently done from life in 1864 or 65.

Sam Grant

"Stonewall" Jackson
William T. Sherman

George Pickett

Joe Johnston

Phil Sheridan
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8 comments:

  1. Charles GramlichMay 22, 2018 at 7:31 AM

    Good to put faces to these names

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  2. Jerry HouseMay 22, 2018 at 8:57 AM

    I don't see a portrait of Stonewall's arm.

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  3. Matthew ClarkMay 22, 2018 at 11:37 AM

    Something off about some of these. Phil Sheridan is described as not being a big man, yet in this picture it looks like he could carry this horse. The scene shown in this painting is a famous moment that comes at one of the last efforts of the Confederacy to outflank the Union Army and threaten Washington DC. Sheridan had been at a meeting and away from the front when the Battle of Cedar Creek started. The Union forces were taken by surprise and were being pushed back. Sheridan was on his way back to the front when he heard cannon fire in the distance. He immediately mounted up and galloped toward sound of the cannons. Arriving in time to rally the troops and turn the tide of the battle. In the years directly after the war, Sheridan's Ride was considered one of the great feats of historic horsemanship, rivaling Paul Revere's Ride. The artist is here giving Sheridan an heroic proportion to match the deed. Records tell that Sheridan may have looked small on his large black stallion, but he was a master horseman.

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  4. Evan LewisMay 22, 2018 at 1:24 PM

    Interesting stuff, Matthew. I don't know much about old Phil. As to your question the other day about David Goodis, I believe it's true he wrote for a variety of pulps, including air war, though I don't own any with his stories. I did post a rare one from a 1935 issue of Detective Fiction Weekly, though. That's here: http://davycrockettsalmanack.blogspot.com/2011/06/forgotten-stories-man-couldnt-breathe.html#links

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  5. pattinase (abbott)May 22, 2018 at 2:02 PM

    Love the Portrait Gallery. Although I am not always fond of the styles in which the newer presidents are rendered.

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  6. Cap'n BobMay 22, 2018 at 2:16 PM

    How soon before they rip the one of Marse Robert off the wall?

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  7. Evan LewisMay 22, 2018 at 2:35 PM

    I agree, Patti. The Clinton portrait is a joke.

    I, too, fear for Bobby Lee. Of course, George Washington is under fire too. And that will be a problem, as there are many dozens of places and something like 750 schools named after him.

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  8. Cap'n BobMay 23, 2018 at 4:25 PM

    And Pickett, and Stonewall.

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