Private Abyssinian Patriot Army (Ethiopia 1941)

Title: Private Abyssinian Patriot Army (Ethiopia 1941)
Artist: Chris McNab
Date: 2002

Abyssinia fell under italian control in 1935 after an invasion from the Italian territories of Somaliland and Eritrea. With the onset of World War II, the Italians thus used Abyssinia as a jumping-off point for their East African campaigns into the Sudan and Kenya, However, resistance from Abyssinian patriots and an effective British campaign in the region returned Abyssinia to its own control in May 1941. The soldier pictured here is one of the Abyssinian resistance fighters who fought alongside the Allies. There was no uniform as such, the patriots usually utilizing whatever items of European clothing were available. This soldier has a khaki tunic and pantaloons, probably of pre-war italian or German origin, worn with canvas leggings, but no boots. The riffe is the German 7.62aum (0.3in) 98K, and a péstol hangs from his leather belt.

Source :

Book "20th Century Military Uniforms" by Chris McNab

British Grenadiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Title: Battle of Bunker Hill
Artist: Edward Percy Moran
Date: 1909

A depiction of the battle of Bunker Hill by Edward Percy Moran (1862-1935), known for his scenes of American history. This significant battle took place on 17 June 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill. Although the uniform details are inaccurate, the formation of the British grenadiers advancing uphill toward the Americans behind prepared positions is largely representative of the closeorder formation used by the British during their assault. After the experience of the retreat from Lexington, British commander Lieutenant-General Thomas Gage ordered his men to form in two rather than three ranks but retained the close-order formation. Although Gage attempted to outflank the American position, a quick reaction by American commanders frustrated British efforts and resulted in a sustained firefight on unequal terms. The British grenadiers were ordered to assault the American lines with the bayonet but their close-order formations made it difficult for them to cross several fences and as the formations lost cohesion the grenadiers lost momentum. As a result many grenadiers began to fire at the enemy rather than carry home their charge. In the aftermath of Bunker Hill British commanders understood that the bayonet was the most effective weapon against the untrained Americans. Conversely, American commanders realized that effective use of terrain and cover, including walls, fences, and woods, could negate some of the lethal nature of the British bayonet charge.

Source :

Book "Continental versus Redcoat: American Revolutionary War" by David Bonk
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/371124825518568626/

In the Troops Quarter Outside Paris

Title: Im Etappenquartier vor Paris (A Billet outside Paris)
Artist: Anton von Werner
Date: 24 October 1870 - 1894

This painting by Anton von Werner (1843-1915) was completed in 1894 and purchased the same year by the National Gallery in Berlin (surprisingly, it was the first Werner painting the National Gallery acquired). The sketch forming the basis of his painting, however, had been executed twenty-four years earlier: on October 24, 1870, when the artist was accompanying Chief of the Prussian General Staff Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891) and his entourage in occupied France. The finished work shows German troops occupying the Château de Brunoy outside Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. To be sure, Werner documents every detail of the scene and the setting – right down to the inexpertly repaired boot sole at the right. But his principal aim is to emphasize the contrast between the vigorous, ruddy-cheeked troops, with their practical mud-covered footwear, and the sumptuous, effeminate interior they have requisitioned for temporary lodgings. This contrast is conveyed not least by Werner’s palette – the soldiers, dressed in blue uniforms with red piping, are rendered in dark primary colors, thereby standing out against an interior awash in pastels and dominated by the warm yellow of gilded surfaces. In this and other pictorial choices, Werner seems to suggest German cultural superiority over the French. For example, the soldiers have not, as in the age-old manner, destroyed the furniture at hand to light a fire and revenge themselves on the enemy; instead, they have taken the time to gather wood on the villa’s grounds, seen just outside the window at rear. And while the soldiers look dirty and rumpled, they are not necessarily rough-hewn. In fact, they have enough good German Bildung – education and “cultivation” – to play the piano and give voice to song in an impromptu concert. (According to Werner’s notes, they were singing Franz Schubert's setting of Heine's poem “Das Meer erglänzte weit hinaus” [“The Sea Shone Resplendent far into the Distance”], which, as he added, was very popular with all the military bands at that time). This history lesson would not have been lost on German viewers of the painting in 1894. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to portray Werner’s politics as illiberal or chauvinist. He had no need to make the enemy appear despicable: except for the villa’s female concierge and her daughter, who appear to be suffering none of the hardships inflicted upon the Parisian population at the time, the French have simply disappeared from the scene. The mood of good humor is further reinforced by the elaborate clock and vases on the mantle – their very presence suggesting that no looting has been committed by the occupying troops. These choices make the painting even more melodramatic and contrived, undercutting its apparently disinterested virtuosity. What conclusions do we draw from this? On the one hand, the very fact that patriotic painting of this sort had achieved such popularity by the 1890s may indicate that, by the turn-of-the-century, the chauvinism so vehemently criticized by Friedrich Nietzsche after 1871 had evolved into something that was, if not more generous to French victimhood or forgiving of German brutality, then at least more innocuous. Tellingly, when contemporary viewers commented upon Werner’s portrayal of soldiers lounging disrespectfully on the furniture of a beautiful French château, they found this aspect amusing, not offensive. On the other hand, such public reaction may reflect the philistine complacency that Nietzsche also identified as characteristic of post-unification German society. 

Source :

http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1400

Danish Soldiers in the Trenches of Dybbøl (1864)

Title: Kampene ved Dybbøl, 1864 (The Battle of Dybbøl, 1864)
Artist: Jørgen Valentin Sonne
Date: 1871

The Battle of Dybbøl (Danish: Slaget ved Dybbøl; German: Erstürmung der Düppeler Schanzen) was the key battle of the Second Schleswig War and occurred on the morning of 18 April 1864 following a siege starting on 7 April. Denmark suffered a severe defeat against Prussia, which decided the war. Dybbøl was also a battlefield in the First Schleswig War.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dybb%C3%B8l

Danish Attack at Dybbøl (1864)

Title: Ottende brigades angreb ved Dybbøl 18. april 1864 (Eighth Brigade's attack at Dybbøl 18 April 1864)
Artist: Vilhelm Rosenstand
Date: 1894

On the morning of 18 April 1864 at Dybbøl, the Prussians moved into their positions at 2.00. At 10.00 the Prussian artillery bombardment stopped and the Prussians charged through shelling from the Rolf Krake which did not prove enough to halt them. Thirteen minutes after the charge, the Prussian infantry had already seized control of the first line of defence of the redoubts.

A total massacre of the retreating troops was avoided and the Prussian advance halted by a counter-attack by the 8th Brigade, until a Prussian attack threw them back; that attack advanced about 1 km and reached Dybbøl Mill. In that counter-attack the 8th Brigade lost about half their men, dead or wounded or captured. This let the remnants of 1st and 3rd Brigades escape to the pier opposite Sønderborg. At 13.30 the last resistance collapsed at the bridgehead in front of Sønderborg. After that there was an artillery duel across the Alssund.

During the battle around 3,600 Danes and 1,200 Prussians were either killed, wounded or disappeared. A Danish official army casualty list at the time said: 671 dead; 987 wounded, of whom 473 were captured; 3,131 unwounded captured and/or deserters; total casualties 4,789. The 2nd and 22nd Regiments lost the most. Also, the crew of the Danish naval ship Rolf Krake suffered one dead, 10 wounded.

The Battle of Dybbøl was the first battle monitored by delegates of the Red Cross: Louis Appia and Charles van de Velde. Following the battle, the Prussians used the fort area as a starting point to attack Als in June 1864.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dybb%C3%B8l

The Delaware Regiment at the Battle of Long Island (1776)

Title: The Delaware Regiment at the Battle of Long Island
Artist: Domenick D'Andrea
Date: 2004

The battle of Long Island, a British victory, began just after the Siege of Boston. As the British fled after their defeat in that siege, General George Washington guessed that they would head south and try to take New York. Therefore, he and his army went there and prepared for the British to attack. As it turns out, the British had in fact gone North to Halifax, Nova Scotia. They reached the Hudson River on June 29, 1776, and on July 3, British General William Howe arrived on Stanton Island. The next day (July 4, 1776) was the day that the America's Continental Congress announced the independence of America.

While all of this was happening, George Washington had been preparing for battle in New York. He had created a wall of men with guns to defend the city from any attacks from the sea and placed 10,000 men on Brooklyn Heights to defend Manhattan. He was ready for anyone who would attack New York. There was just one problem: the British would be attacking Long Island, not New York.

On August 27, 1776 the British landed on Long Island, which is south of New York. Two days later, General Howe learned that the Americans had no one guarding the road leading North from Long Island into New York, but had defenses set up on all the other roads. Using this information, Howe led his men up the North road. He then proceeded around to attack the Americans Guarding the left road, who were led by General John Sullivan. While Howe's army attacked Sullivan's from the back, a German troop, which was allied with the British, attacked from the front. Sullivan fought as well as he could, but he was soon overpowered and forced to retreat behind the Brooklyn walls. Howe, feeling proud of his victory, led his men and attacked the men guarding the right road, using the same technique. They, like Sullivan's men, fought hard but were forced to retreat to Brooklyn.

Source :

http://www.revolutionary-war.net/battle-of-long-island.html

The Battle of Lexington (1775)

Title: The Battle of Lexington (1775)
Artist: William Barnes Wollen
Date: 1910

A painting of the battle of Lexington (April 19, 1775) by William Barnes Wollen (1857–1936). Courtesy of the Council, National Army Museum, London, UK. The disposition of the British troops and American colonists in the painting represents the prevailing image of closely ranked British engaging a loosely formed enemy. The colonists were drawn up in a formal line on the village green at Lexington where, after refusing to disperse, they were fired upon by British regulars deployed in a three-rank, close-order formation. While some of the colonists that engaged in the running battle with the British on April 19, 1775 may have been veterans of the French and Indian War, they had little organization or training. After that initial exchange of musketry the American tactics largely involved hit-and-run attacks on the British column returning to Boston. The Colonists made extensive use of available cover, stone walls, and fences, and repeatedly forced the British to deploy from march column into line, only to find the Americans had dispersed.

Source :

Book "Continental versus Redcoat: American Revolutionary War" by David Bonk

American Continental Army Uniform

Title: Infantry: Continental Army, 1779-1783
Artist: Henry Alexander Ogden
Date: 1897

In January 1779 Washington submitted a proposal to the Continental Congress for the standardization of uniforms, suggesting each state adopt a different color uniform, with facing colors distinguishing different units. He also suggested pants be replaced with woolen overalls for winter and linen for summer wear. Congress passed along the proposal to the Board of War, which responded in May 1779 with a revised plan adopting dark blue as the standard uniform color and dividing the states into four groups, each with a different facing color. The proposed facing colors were white (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), buff (New York and New Jersey), red (Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia), and blue with white lace buttonholes (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).

Source :

Book "Continental versus Redcoat: American Revolutionary War" by David Bonk

Friedrich the Great Carrying the Flag (1758)

Title: Friedrich der grosse als Fahnentrager auf dem Schlachtfeld’ (Frederick the Great as standard-bearer at the battlefield)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1900

On 25 August 1758 Prussian army defeated the numerically stronger forces of Russian Army at Zorndorf (approximately 90 kilometers east of Berlin) with superior organization. During the battle, Prussian king Friedrich II had taken the flag of  Prussian Infantry Regiment Nr.46 that lying on the ground and then led his retreating soldiers to a successful counterattack. Inspired by this event, German painter Arthur Kampf recreated the King Friedrich's Prowess 150 years later. In contrast to the many detailed and colorful battle scenes from that time, King Friedrich and the flag fill the whole height of the painting. Friedrich placed expansively in the foreground., Only dimly behind the dense smoke powder as a recognition to Prussian soldiers who will bring unity and dynamism for the next glorious attack. The painting staged Friedrich as a model for unconditional sacrifice: The Carrying of the Flag resolutely onward, it seem that the King does not fear for death, even though the fallen soldier has been pictured to his right and left. The German painter used the motif of the flag that had been used since the Prussian-Danish war in 1864 as a symbol for victory. However, he had made a significant error in his paintings: The four corner keys of the flag of the infantry regiment No. 46 were not red but black. Arthur Kampf, ‘Friedrich der grosse als Fahnentrager auf dem Schlachtfeld’ (‘Frederick the Great as standard-bearer at the battlefield’) now in the possession of German Historical Museum, Berlin.

Source :
https://www.dhm.de/lemo/bestand/objekt/friedrich-der-grosse-als-fahnentraeger-auf-dem-schlachtfeld-um-1900.html

Rocroi, the Last Tercio

Title: Rocroi, el último tercio (Rocroi, the last tercio)
Artist: Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau
Date: 2011

Rocroi, The Last Tercio (2011) by the contemporary artists Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau is on display from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Rocroi, The Last Tercio depicts the defeat of the Spanish army in the Battle of Rocroi against the French. The Battle of Rocroi occurred near the end of the Thirty Years' War and is an important battle in world history. The French defeat of the Spanish army marks the end to a century and a half of battles won by the Spanish army7.  Interestingly however, unlike in The Surrender of Breda by Velazquez, Ferrer-Dalmau only paints the Spanish army. The last tercio, or the last third of the Spanish army stands together proud and defiant as they await the French artillery. Even though Spain suffered a massive loss, within the painting, Spain can be seen as still having dignity. By only showing the bravery of the Spanish army and not the victorious French army, makes the viewer almost believe that Spain had won the Battle of Rocroi. The attention to detail as well as the long lances is very similar to Velazquez's representation of the surrender of the city of Breda. After waging wars and other military campaigns for around 150 years, Spain had finally abused their power and spread themselves too thin. Once the French had defeated the Spanish army, Spain would no longer live in a Golden Age.

Source :
http://span2322finalproject.weebly.com/featured-art.html