The Battle of Belmont as Told in a Comic Strip

The University of the South has digitized the Polk Family Papers. While going there to find something related to Shiloh (there was not much but it’s a hard site to use) I came upon a comic strip titled Under the Stars and Bars. It depicts the battle of Belmont in its final phase and was published in The Nashville Banner. It is not too surprising. The paper did full print runs with original art for many Civil War battles for the centennial. I looked through the one on the battle of Nashville, which is digitized by the Battle of Nashville Trust. I hoped to use some images in my upcoming book on the subject. Alas, they wanted a lot of money per image and being part of a massive media conglomerate, they are not as forgiving as a research center or library sometimes can be.

If anyone recalls reading this or knows were to get the full run I would be interested. Below are images of Belmont and a link to where I found it. The images as I could save them on my computer are not of the highest quality, but do give a feel for the style. Leonidas Polk in particular is well drawn.

Grant is defeated at Belmont…but will he escape?
Grant escapes!
Cue foreboding music!

Source:

https://fromthepage.com/slaveryproject/leonidas-polk-family-papers/polk-family-papers-box-1-document-11/display/201348



5 Responses to The Battle of Belmont as Told in a Comic Strip

  1. My Dad worked for Neuhoff Packing Co. in Nashville. The huge chimney of the plant still dominates the riverbank down river from the swinging RR bridge. As the youngest person in the boiler room crew it was his job to climb up the rungs embedded in the side of the flue to inspect it during the annual shutdown. Anybody who has ever seen that chimney will let out a whistle.

    Neuhoff’s was purchased by Swift & Co who transferred us first to Iowa & then to Watertown SD in the early 1960’s. One of our Nashville relations saved the Civil War Centennial special pages & sent them to me. Needless to say, my interest in the Civil War springs from that box of special editions & cuttings.

    Your clippings sparked my memory of that box of goodies. Last time I recall seeing it the newsprint had turned brittle as a dry leaf. It literally crumbled as I paged through . I don’t remember when that was, but I knew enough about the Civil War by then to note in that version of the Civil War there were no black people. Also, it was more than passing strange that the South seemed to somehow win most of the battles & yet still manage to loose the war. I suppose on their next move my mom threw out the musty smelling box… perhaps that is a metaphor for all the Lost Cause twaddle I spent years unlearning.

    Thanks, this has brought back some pretty sweet memories.

  2. They forgot to mention that broadsides from Union Navy gunboats Tyler and Lexington held off the Confederates so that Grant and his men could get away in the transports. Also, who outnumbered whom?

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