QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

150 Years Ago in the Civil War

Julia Ward Howe published the
Battle Hymn of the Republic in 1862

2012 is the 150th anniversary of the second year of the Civil War, the second of five years. This year's reproduction print collection 1862 Battle Hymn, commemorates events of that year when Americans realized that the Confederates were not to be intimidated or easily subdued, that Union armies needed training and leadership and that Civil War meant battles in the front yard.

A family stunned by the nearby Battle of Cedar Mountain, 1862
Detail of a photo from the Library of Congress
  

Julia Ward Howe wrote new words to the song that Union soldiers sang as they marched. Her Battle Hymn of the Republic was published in the February, 1862 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, to become an American classic.

Read more about Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn in this post on my 2011 Civil War blog


Timothy H. O'Sullivan photographed the Virginia family outside their house where a Confederate General died. They happened to be in the way when the battle broke out.

Behind them broken furniture, trees and fences.


Hampton Roads
Each of the 8 prints in the reproduction collection is named for a battle from that year.

Shiloh

Corinth

Chantilly

Cedar Mountain

Yorktown

Memphis

Valverde

See a gallery of pictures from 1862 in the Library of Congress by clicking here:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/picamer/paCw1862.html

And keep up with the New York Times's Disunion blog that records the year 1862 in short essays:

5 comments:

  1. Amazing photos showing this historical event. The sadness is visible in their
    faces and bodies. The fabrics inspired from this era however are just beautiful.

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  2. I can attest to the beauty of this fabric, now if I can decide on something beautiful to make with them. Would like to mix appliqué and piecing together.

    Debbie

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  3. The pictures taken of that time are so revealing. Thank you for sharing these. I think you meant to say that people of the Union states realized that the Confederates were not going to be intimidated. Confederates were American, too.

    Katie in Texas

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  4. No. I meant the Confederates themselves realized they weren't going to be intimidated either. But maybe I could have phrased that to make it clearer.

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  5. Barbara,
    Are these reproduction fabrics available already or how would one find them? Thanks, Marisa

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