Conrad Wise Chapman

Conrad Wise Chapman (February 14, 1842 – December 10, 1910) was an American painter who served in the Confederate States Army from 1861 to 1865.

Early life Conrad Wise Chapman was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Europe where his father, John Gadsby Chapman, was working as an artist. His older brother, John Linton Chapman, was also an artist.

Career In 1861, Chapman returned to America and enlisted in Company D, 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiment. He was wounded in Shiloh along with seeing action in Mississippi and Louisiana, before a transfer to the 46th Virginia Infantry at the request of his father to Henry Alexander Wise. Over the next 10 months, he also served with the 59th Virginia Infantry, known as the Wise Legion or Wise Brigade, with both the 46th and 59th at Chaffin's Farm on the James River in Henrico County.

In September 1863, the Wise Brigade was ordered south to take part in the defence of Charleston, South Carolina. Chapman was commissioned to create thirty one paintings of the city's defenses by Brig. Gen. Thomas Jordan, chief of staff to commanding Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard. This was part of a campaign by Beauregard to increase support for his ideas about the defense of the harbor in the Confederate government. Chapman served in the city from early September 1863 to March 1864.

Chapman created art while he was on active duty during the war. While there were several artists on the Union side who captured the war in painting, who were also active, this was not the case on the Confederate side. He also spent time in France and England. In 1898, his entire collection of paintings went on view at the Union League Club in New York, where they attracted attention, but no buyers. He then moved his family to Richmond where the following year he sold 31 paintings to the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, which later became the Museum of the Confederacy and is now the American Civil War Museum.

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