"Thunder at Dawn"
by Mark Maritato
Oil on Linen Canvas
Museum Quality Original Artwork!
Civil War Artillery - Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) Subject.
Artwork/Image Size 36" wide x 24" tall
Framed as shown 39-1/2" x 27-1/2"
Painting was exhibited in Green County Council of the Arts Gallery show "Undaunted Valor" Show
Catskill, New York 2012
Description of Artwork: this beautiful Oil Painting depicts the Confederate artillery battery of Captain W.W. Parker (Virginia) of Stephen D. Lee's Battalion while engaged near the Dunker Church during the morning action of the battle of Antietam Creek Maryland (Sharpsburg) September 17th 1862.
Historical Description: The morning of September 17th 1862 dawned foggy along the banks of Antietam Creek Maryland. All throughout the previous day of the 16th, two armies had gathered and drew up their lines in the fields, woodlots and ridges surrounding the small sleepy hamlet of Sharpsburg. The Union Army of the Potomac commanded by George B. McClellan faced Robert E. Lees Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. It was Lee’s first invasion onto Northern soil in an attempt to get England and France to officially recognize the Confederate Government. Everything hung in the balance for Lee and the Confederacy. All throughout the 16th of September there had been scattered fighting between the opposing forces all along the line but the true bloodletting had not yet occurred. The stage was set; both Armies hunkered down for the night waiting what the next day would bring.
The armies slept through a rainy and drizzly night, no doubt adding to the feeling of uncertainty as to what will occur when the sun came up. When the skies began to lighten on the morning of September 17th the ball opened. Federal artillery posted along the North Woods and across the Antietam Creek began to shell Confederate artillery positions located on an open plateau of ground adjacent to a large woodlot known as the West Woods and a small white Baptist church known locally as the Dunker Church. In front of the church ran the Hagerstown Turnpike, a road that led from Sharpsburg to Hagerstown Maryland. Colonel Stephen D. Lee commanded the Confederate artillery Battalion posted in this sector.
Captain William Watts Parker, a Doctor by profession and a native of Richmond Virginia commanded one of the batteries in Lee’s battalion. After having served in the 15th Virginia Infantry during the first eight months of the war, Parker was motivated to raise a company of infantry in response to the growing numbers of Federal enemy troops. In a February 21st letter that was published in one of Richmond’s Newspapers, Parker asked for volunteers to serve in a company of “honest sober men, no one need suffer in his morals. We expect every man in this company, who conducts himself a gentleman to be treated accordingly.” Volunteers were quickly raised over the following weeks. The men who answered the call for volunteers were young, genial and upstanding individuals mostly from Richmond and its immediate environs, who exemplified the qualities Parkers had been seeking. Because of the youthful appearance and the average age of Parker’s volunteers of 14 to 23, the company had come to be known locally as “The Boy Company.” After the infantry company had been formed and it’s officers elected it was decided by Captain Parker that they would organize into a battery of Artillery in order to vastly improve their independence, prominence and impact on actions than as a company of infantry.
By September of 1862, Parker’s battery consisted of two three inch rifled guns and three twelve-pound Howitzer cannons. On the morning of the 17th Parker’s battery faced the full fury of Federal artillery. The plateau in front of the Dunker Church of which the battery occupied became a fiery sulfurous cauldron of screaming, exploding artillery shells and moving lines of infantry. Parker’s Men worked feverishly pouring a destructive fire into seemingly endless lines of Federal infantry attacking Confederate infantry through a large cornfield about 500 yards in front of the battery’s position as well as along the Hagerstown Turnpike. The struggle swayed back and forth between the opposing masses of infantry with terrible unrelenting savagery and confusion in the fields before Parker’s Battery.
All throughout the action, Stephen D. Lee’s Artillery battalion along with Parker’s Virginia battery held the same position, suffering destruction and casualties while dealing them in return. Shells shattered caissons; men and battery horses fell with appalling regularity. Private George Jones narrowly escaped injury when a round he was ramming down the burning hot barrel prematurely exploded; sending the ramrod down-range clumsily toward the enemy. The mishap temporarily blinded Jones but he stayed at his post. One of the youngest boys in the company, Private John Truman, who had enlisted with the battery without his mothers knowledge or permission had his knee shattered to the point of needing amputation. Truman would later die of his injury. Another Young Lad 15 year old Kenny Richardson was initially placed well behind the guns position but was pressed into service when the original crew began to dwindle. An exploding shell killed Richardson instantly.
Despite suffering from an illness during the barrage, Captain Parker seemed to be The coolest man on the field, riding amongst his guns inspiring his men. The excitement of the moment seemed to transform the old Doctor into a consummate warrior. Amidst the bursting shells, the death and destruction happening all around him, Parker exclaimed to Jim Darden “If I am killed, tell my wife I was never happier in my life!” As the morning progressed, Federal infantry began to mass in greater numbers on the Western side of the Hagerstown Turnpike and in the West Woods itself. Colquitt’s and Trimble’s Brigades were being pushed back toward Parker’s guns and the plateau soon became a much more dangerous place to be. Parker then gave the survivors of his Battery order to limber up and move the guns new ground. As Sergeant Hallowell limbered up his gun and began to move it to the rear, a Federal shell burst, killing the lead horse of his team and mutilating the leg of 16 year old lead driver George Warburton. Although Parker’s Battery would continue to see full service on many more battlefields including, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville Virginia and Gettysburg Pennsylvania, the action that Parker’s small unit took part in on this morning along the banks of the Antietam, forever became known afterward as “Artillery Hell.”
Condition Report: Excellent Condition.
Exhibited: Gallery Exhibitions and Shows: • 2012 - Green County Council of the Arts - Catskill NY - "Undaunted Valor" Solo Exhibition of Civil War Original Artworks • 2004-2008 - American Historical Art Gallery - Gettysburg Pennsylvania -Various Shows and Appearances • 2003-2006 - "History Meets the Arts" - Gettysburg Pennsylvania • 2005-2007 - Gettysburg National Military Park Visitors Center & Book Store - Gettysburg Pennsylvania • 2005 - Mountain Top Gallery - Windham NY - Solo Exhibition of Civil War Original Artwork • 1998-2000 - The Farnsworth House Gallery - Gettysburg Pennsylvania
Provenance: Direct from the artist.
OFFERS - Feel free to submit a serious and fair offer for this beautiful original artwork and it will be considered.
About Mark Maritato:
Mark Maritato is an acclaimed historical artist who brings American military historical events to life through his artwork. His original oil paintings of epic military battles, as well as individual soldier uniform studies now reside in numerous private and institutional collections around the world. It was his love for art and history that drove Mr. Maritato to pursue a career as a professional artist. During his formal training in painting and illustration at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Maritato began to paint Civil War subjects in oils. Mr. Maritato’s original oil paintings have become renowned among private collectors and public institutions for their high degree of quality through painstaking attention to detail. Every painting Mr. Maritato creates starts with months, or sometimes years of research on his subject before a brush is loaded with paint: all to ensure that each painting is created with highest degree of accuracy possible, in the tradition of the old master military painters.
In 2019, Mr. Maritato was chosen by the US. National Park Service at Valley Forge Historical Site in Pennsylvania to hand-paint 16 custom original artworks that would be reproduced as part of the permanent museum wall display at the park’s newly renovated visitor’s center and would play a large role in the park’s educational mission. In 2012, Mr. Maritato was commissioned by the Monmouth historical battlefield park in Manalapan, New Jersey to paint seven historical paintings that would be incorporated as part of the park’s new museum display. In both instances, Mr. Maritato worked hands-on with park historians and rangers to ensure the accuracy of every important detail shown in the artworks. Previous to this, in 2009-2010, Mr. Maritato was commissioned by Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Inc. to create three epic paintings on the battle of Gettysburg. Mr. Maritato has also served as a military consultant specializing in Civil War era uniforms and tactics for television and film. Mr. Maritato’s artworks have also been featured on wayside and park exhibits at the Manassas national battlefield park in Virginia.
"I consider myself blessed, and am very thankful to be able to combine the study of military history material culture through my artwork. I wish to thank all of my collectors and patrons for your support of my work."
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