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Civil War Painting Honors Union Hero This article appeared in The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia on September 21, 2002

Prints of artist's work will benefit Fredericksburg Area Museum

By Clint Shemmer

	Courage In Blue

It was the battle that put Fredericksburg on the map--terrible and tragic, human drama writ large on the landscape.

Soon, there'll be paintings worthy of the Union army's doomed assault on Marye's Heights and of the Confederates' spirited defense of the town and the road to Richmond beyond.

And they will be a matched pair, the latest creative effort of Mort Künstler, one of the nation's best-known historical artists. He's coming to Fredericksburg Friday to première the new work as a benefit for the Fredericksburg Area Museum.

The painter and illustrator has been a regular at the museum since 1997, soon after it opened, when his painting Lee's Lieutenants made its debut here.

This time, his subject is not a famed Confederate commander, but a hero of the Northern armies: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Brave and brilliant, this Bowdoin College professor-turned-officer achieved his first notoriety on Dec. 13, 1862, in the killing fields below Fredericksburg's Sunken Road.

For Künstler, it's a telling episode in the life of an extraordinary soldier, said by one contemporary to have "the soul of the lion and the heart of the woman."

"The Civil War had so many heroes, and to me none is more appealing or inspiring than Chamberlain," Künstler said.

"Most students of the war are aware of his heroic defense of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, but much less-known is the courageous charge he led at the Battle of Fredericksburg."

Then a lieutenant colonel, Chamberlain gamely led the 20th Maine Infantry into withering fire from the Southern lines. They got within yards of their objective--the stone wall held by Confederate riflemen at the base of Marye's Heights--before being forced to take cover.

Pinned down by opposing fire, the Maine troops had to hug the ground all night and all day, taking cover amid the bodies of their fellow men. Memories of that evening haunted Chamberlain the rest of his life.

The next day, at sunset, Chamberlain's men were finally given the signal to withdraw. The Battle of Fredericksburg was over; the Union army had been slaughtered. The defeated troops evacuated the town, with Chamberlain and his regiment leading the retreat back across the Rappahannock River. As the war dragged on, he became one of its most famous figures, serving in 24 battles and rising in rank to major general. Chamberlain is best known for two deeds: saving the Union army from defeat in the Battle of Gettysburg (for which he won the Congressional Medal of Honor), and his chivalrous actions at the war's close on April 12, 1865. There, at Appomattox, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant chose Chamberlain to command the troops that formally received the surrender of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Chamberlain's gallantry in that heart-wrenching moment impressed even the Southern troops. He had his men salute the defeated Confederates as they marched by, demonstrating his admiration of their valor and Grant's wish to encourage the rebel armies still in the field to accept the peace.

In Courage in Blue: Chamberlain at Fredericksburg, Künstler tries to capture the climax of the 20th Maine's charge, making the U.S. flag and the muzzle flashes of the regiment's rifles the painting's focal point. Old Glory rises above the smoke as the men struggle toward the road, with their wounded and dead comrades all around.

"Next year, I plan to do a companion painting to this work that will portray the Southern troops defending Marye's Heights at the point of Chamberlain's charge," Künstler said. "Placed together, the two paintings will offer a panoramic view which will be almost cycloramic in scope."

He will donate all proceeds from a special sale of 100 of the 950 limited-edition prints to the regional museum. That will help underwrite its summer programs for children, its exhibitions and artifact conservation, museum Vice President Mary Helen Dellinger said.

"Due to the loss of all state funding this year, the museum is developing many different avenues of support," she said. "Mort Künstler has always been very generous toward Fredericksburg and the museum. This print sale is no exception, and comes at a very crucial time."

The prints, now on sale for $209 each, may be purchased by calling the museum at 371-3037 or placing an order in person at the museum, on the corner of Princess Anne and William streets in downtown Fredericksburg.

Künstler will be on hand for a catered reception at the museum Friday evening to meet patrons and personalize their prints.

"To me, Chamberlain and the 20th Maine symbolize the courage and sacrifice that were typical of American soldiers in the Civil War, on both sides," he said. "And I hope I have been able to convey that emotion in this painting."

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