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Saturday 10 October 2026, at 3 PM

CINEMA AND THE CIVIL WAR

Lecture by Maurice Jaquemyns: Cinema and the Civil War, from historical context to film. Every artistic production expresses, at a given moment in time, a vision of the world shaped by its context. From 1900 to the present day, cinema and television series have shown an interest in the American Civil War according to the questions and aspirations of the American public regarding this pivotal period in their history. A work emerges within the framework that inspires it: both its origins and its legacy reflect the evolving issues of domestic and foreign policy in the United States. Our presentation will be illustrated with visual materials and representative documents from films that have left a lasting mark on the history of cinema.

Saturday 14 November 2026, at 3 PM

GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER, THE ENFANT TERRIBLE

Lecture by Farid Ameur: George Armstrong Custer, the Enfant Terrible. Born in 1839 in Ohio, George Armstrong Custer was the son of a blacksmith of German origin. Although he was a troublesome student, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he attracted the attention of his superiors through his misconduct and his disregard for military regulations. In July 1861, as the Civil War had just broken out, he graduated last in his class and joined his unit in time to receive his baptism of fire at the First Battle of Bull Run. A devoted, energetic, and determined cavalry officer, he distinguished himself in the spring of 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign. Having caught the attention of General George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, he was assigned to McClellan’s staff. The experience proved successful and opened new opportunities for him. On June 29, 1863, despite his young age, he was suddenly promoted from captain to brigadier general of volunteers. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the Boy General earned his new rank by leading his forces in two spectacular charges that helped save the rear of the Federal line at a crucial moment in the battle. Eager for glory, as brave as he was vain and egocentric, he multiplied his daring exploits on the Virginia front. Despite reckless risks, he came to believe himself invincible. War, in truth, was his natural element. From the Shenandoah Valley to the final Appomattox Campaign, he carried out the most dangerous missions with zeal and composure, becoming a favorite of public opinion. Shortly before the end of the conflict, he was promoted to major general, making him the youngest officer ever to hold such rank in the history of the U.S. Army. After peace was restored, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 7th Cavalry Regiment and pursued a controversial career fighting Native Americans on the Frontier. Obsessed with his own image, he achieved the immortality he so deeply desired by dying, alongside 262 of his men, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against a coalition of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors led by Chief Sitting Bull.

Saturday 12 December 2026, at 3 PM

THE INTERVENTION OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION

Lecture by Jean-Claude Janssens: The intervention of the United States during the Mexican Revolution. In 1910, the Mexican Revolution broke out, ending ten years later after causing the deaths of nearly two million people. On several occasions, the United States was forced to intervene, and in February 1913, President Woodrow Wilson imposed an arms embargo. The U.S. fleet blockaded Tampico and Veracruz. In April 1914, the Navy seized Veracruz by force. On March 9, 1916, the revolutionary Pancho Villa attacked the American outpost of Columbus. Troops under General John J. Pershing were sent in pursuit of the raiders and crossed the border on March 15. Among the officers on Pershing’s staff was a certain Captain George S. Patton. For ten months, the Americans roamed through Sonora and Chihuahua without success. Pancho Villa escaped capture, and Pershing returned empty-handed to the United States in January 1917. That same year, the interception of the Zimmermann Telegram – Germany’s proposal that Mexico enter the war against the United States in exchange for the return of territories lost in 1848 – became one of the many pretexts that motivated the United States to enter the war against the German Empire. Thus, a second war with Mexico never took place. Between 1917 and 1919, sporadic clashes still occurred along the border. In 1920, the Revolution finally came to an end, and relations between the two countries were permanently normalized.

LATEST PAINTINGS OF JOHN PAUL STRAIN

BURNING THE TRESTLE AT WOODSTOCK

STONEWALL OF THE WEST

In the spring of 1862, the Shenandoah Valley became the stage for one of the most brilliant campaigns of the Civil War. Charged with protecting the Shenandoah Valley, General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson maneuvered his small army with remarkable speed and secrecy, frustrating Federal attempts to advance southward. Jackson’s trusted cavalry commander, Col. Turner Ashby, and his daring horsemen constantly ambushed the enemy while reporting on their movements. Ashby also assisted Jackson in another task that the general seemed to relish—the destruction of railroads. The Manassas Gap Railroad threaded its way through the Valley from Front Royal southward through Woodstock to Mount Jackson. It served as an important Federal supply and transportation route. To deny its use to the enemy, Jackson repeatedly ordered sections of track, bridges, and trestles destroyed wherever opportunity allowed. Just north of the small town of Woodstock, the railroad crossed the clear waters of Pugh’s Run on a timber trestle built along the base of Little North Mountain. Here Confederate soldiers piled branches, brushes, and debris around the base of the vertical support posts and soaked them with tar, oil, or kerosene before putting the torch to the structure. Flames quickly ran upward through the diagonal braces as the dry timbers created a chimney effect, producing tall flames rising through the bridge. Once the supports burned through, the entire trestle would collapse. Such acts of calculated destruction became a familiar feature of Jackson’s Valley operations. Iron rails were torn up, heated in great fires, and twisted around nearby trees while trestles and bridges were burned to prevent their repair. Few would remain standing. The work earned Jackson a reputation among friends and foes alike as an unrelenting destroyer of railroads. He understood that crippling an enemy’s lines of supply and easy troop movement could be as decisive as winning a battle. Jackson was so focused on this tactic that his men nicknamed him “The Old Railroad Wrecker.” As flames climbed the trestle at Pugh’s Run and smoke drifted across the valley floor, Jackson and Ashby watched the destruction of yet another vital link in the enemy’s transportation network. The two commanders prepared to move on once more, continuing their relentless campaign of maneuver and disruption that would soon make the Shenandoah Valley Campaign one of the most famous operations of the Civil War.

Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was born March 17, 1828, in County Cork, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-one in 1849. Before the war, he lived in Helena, Arkansas, where he worked as a pharmacist and later became an attorney. When the war broke out, he joined the Yell Rifles, a local company, serving as an officer in the Arkansas militia. Southern by choice, he was loyal to his adopted home and its people rather than ideology. His Irish brogue was distinctive and respected by his troops. Cleburne's leadership and battlefield performance at Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold Gap earned him a reputation as one of the best commanders in the army. Cleburne and Nathan Bedford Forrest were friends in the way hard-fighting professional soldiers become friends, through mutual respect, shared danger, and confidence in each other’s judgement. Both men admired the other’s battlefield ability. Cleburne admired Forrest’s speed of decision, instinct for terrain tactics and aggressiveness. Forrest, in turn, respected Cleburne as the Army of the Tennessee’s most reliable infantry commander, one who could be trusted to hold ground or break through enemy positions when required. Morning temperatures on November 30th had dropped near freezing, with frost covering the ground and mist rising from McCutcheon Creek as General Cleburne and his troops watered their horses and filled canteens for the day ahead. Cleburne’s Division, part of Cheatham’s Corps, was under orders from General Hood to resume the northward march in an effort to overtake US General Schofield’s retreating army. Marching along the Columbia Pike, the men were tired but steady after a sleepless, cold night. The column moved at a measured, businesslike pace. News soon filtered back that Schofield’s army had slipped past Spring Hill in the night. Orders emphasized speed and cohesion, rather than minor skirmishing, and Cleburne kept his division tight and disciplined, avoiding unnecessary straggling. By late morning and midday, as the division approached Franklin, the terrain open and the pike rose toward Winstead Hill, south of town. Cleburne’s division moved into position with Cheatham’s Corps. From the heights, officers could see that the Union troops were no longer retreating but were digging in forming strong defensive lines. It became clear the Federals intended to stand and fight. After reconnoitering the position, General Forrest and his scouts found the Federal works were well constructed with ditches, parapets, and strategically placed artillery. Forrest advised Hood of the strength of the position and urged a maneuver, suggesting a flank or rear attack using his cavalry supported by infantry, against the Federal left flank. Forrest expressed concern about Hood’s plan for a frontal assault. Hood rejected this advice and ordered preparations for a direct, massed attack on the Federal position. A long, tense wait followed as Hood’s divisions dressed their lines. Staff officers conferred quietly while soldiers adjusted their cartridge boxes and checked their muskets. General Cleburne rode among his brigades, calm, direct, and unsentimental. Under Hood’s orders, the Confederate line stepped off at about four o’clock in the afternoon, advancing directly into the Federal defenses. The fire was devastating. Confederate casualties in the assault at Franklin exceeded those of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, making it the costliest frontal attack ever undertaken by Confederate infantry. Six Confederate Generals were killed outright: Patrick R. Cleburne, John Adams, Otho F. Strahl, Hiram B. Grandbury, John C. Carter, and States Rights Gist. No other single battle in American history saw so many generals killed on one side in a single engagement. Most were killed within yards of the Union works leading their troops forward. Their deaths devastated the leadership of the Army of the Tennessee and contributed directly two weeks later during Hood's failed attempt to reclaim Nashville. General Cleburne, known to his men as the “Stonewall of the West” was the Army of the Tennessee’s most dependable infantry commander. He was a leader of iron resolve, tactical brilliance, and unyielding personal courage.

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