History Press of Charleston, S.C., latest projects goes back to The Late Unpleasantness and a half-forgotten artist-illustrator.
Actually, Frank Vizetelly (1830-1883) has always been well-known among Civil War buffs; as a war correspondent for the Illustrated London News, he produced images of the conflict that are reproduced again and again in textbooks and histories, images as iconic as any of Matthew Brady’s photos. Now, however, a biography/study by historian Douglas W. Bostick, “The Confederacy’s Secret Weapon,” helps bring Vizetelly to the greater public.
By 1861, when his paper dispatched him to the States, Vizetelly — from an Anglo-Italian family of journalists — was already a veteran war correspondent. He had covered Garibaldi’s independence campaign in Sicily and the Battle of Solferino; later, he would disappear in the Sudan while covering the Islamic uprising by the Mahdi. (This was the campaign that led to Gen. “Chinese” Gordon’s death at Khartoum — recreated in that famous old cinematic chestnut with Laurence Olivier and Charlton Heston.)
With photography in its infancy, Vizetelly and his drawings — converted into engravings back in Old Blighty — served the function of a combat news photographer. And, like many a war correspondent, Vizetelly caused headaches for the armies he covered. His depiction of the Union rout at the first Battle of Bull Run (Mansassas) so angered the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, that Vizetelly was barred from Union Army camps.
Which was fine with Vizetelly. Like a lot of Englishmen, he was more sympathetic to the Southern cause with its image of Cavalier underdogs fighting for a hierarchical society. “The more I see of the Southern army,” he soon wrote, “the more I am lost in admiaration of its splendid patriotism, at its wonderful endurance, at tis utter disregard of hardships which, probably, no modern army has been called upon to bear up against. Wretchedly equipped, the soldiers of the Confederacy adavnce to meet their foes, the light of battle shining on their countenance, determined to be victorious or die … I emphatically assert that the South can never be subjugated.”
No wonder Bostick, a Charleston native, calls Vizetelly the Confederacy’s secret weapon. Like many a foreign correspondent before him he fell in love with his subjects and bought the Confederate story line without reservations. It’s on the battlefield and the camp, though — with wide-angle landscapes and action in the foreground — that Vizetelly excels. He’s no great shakes as a portraitist; his full-length portrait of Robert E. Lee is decidedly mediocre and generic; his version of J.E.B. Stuart, much better, though clearly copied from a familiar daguerrotype. More interesting is his sketch of Stonewall Jackson wearing what appears to be a rain slicker; unlike many commentators, Vizetelly found Jackson to be genial and sociable, although his sketch gives a hint of the dark man of war behind the facade.
Wisely, Bostick and History Press let Vizetelly’s artwork do most of the talking; hundreds of his illustrations are reproduced here. Of note to Wilmington residents are a very familiar depiction of the blockade runner Lilian under full steam, running the blockade into Wilmington. (Vizetelly was on board in the summer of 1864, returning from London as a passenger with Capt. John Newland Maffitt.) He was also present at the final siege of Fort Fisher, producing one of the few depictions of the actual artillery duel.
For Civil War buffs, this little volume should be a must.
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Douglas W. Bostick,
grew up on James Island, one of South Carolina’s sea islands. His ancestors in South Carolina date back to colonial America, including a secretary of the Sons of Liberty during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Charleston Light Dragoons in the Civil War and the captain of a blockade runner during the siege of Charleston.
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His love of history, particularly Southern history, grew from palling with his grandfather, who owned a water well drilling company. As a boy, Bostick often accompanied him on his rounds to Fort Sumter, Sheldon Church ruins, Magnolia Cemetery, Hell Hole Swamp, Kiawah Island and Fort Moultrie. His grandfather riveted him with tales of his ancestors and the places and times in which they lived.
Doug Bostick is a sleuth of an historian who has spent more than two decades actively collecting and piecing together histories of the South. He is the author of three books and has written numerous articles that have appeared in historical journals, magazines and national newsletters.
His knowledge of history is enhanced by a raconteur’s gift for storytelling. He has been interviewed on public radio, led historic tours and presented at numerous civic groups, historical societies, libraries, and genealogy associations.
Bostick, a graduate of the College of Charleston, earned a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina. He is a former staff and faculty member of the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland.
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