Nicola Marschall, Artist and Soldier

SPRING 2013 67 Collection Essay Nicola Marschall, Artist and Soldier H aving highlighted The Filson’s War of 1812 collections for the bicentennial of that conflict in the last issue of Ohio Valley History, we return in this issue to the Civil War. Previous essays have focused on The Filson’s manuscript collection and Civil War exhibit, highlighting photographs, prints, portraits, letters, documents, broadsides, and artifacts. This essay focuses on Nicola Marschall, an artist who created visual records of the war that help us to remember it. The German-born painter lived in Alabama during the war and served intermittently in the army. Unlike war artists who documented the tragic conflict, its participants and victims, through drawing and painting, Marchall’s fame arises from designing the first Confederate national flag and the gray Confederate army uniform , and from his portraits of many Confederate veterans. Marschall moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1873, where he lived until his death in 1917. A popular and successful portrait painter, he had many Kentucky veterans, mostly those who wore gray, sit for him. The Filson’s collection includes both primary and secondary sources documenting Marschall’s life and work. Of particular interest and importance are portraits he painted and a scrapbook of ephemera and sketches that he compiled. Born in St. Wendel, Prussia, on March 16, 1829 to Emanuel and Margaret Mohr Marschall, young Nicola worked for the family’s successful tobacco and wine business .1 From an early age, however, he had a serious interest in art and music. He received a good education, including training in painting, drawing, and music. The political unrest in Germany in the late 1840s probably contributed to Marschall’s decision to seek a new life in the United States. The government excused him from compulsory military service and gave him permission to immigrate to the United States. On April 27, 1849, he sailed on the Jane H. Glidden to America and a career as an artist. Photograph of Nicola Marschall, c. Civil War. THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY NICOLA MARSCHALL, ARTIST AND SOLDIER 68 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY Pencil sketch of “Henry” on board the Jane H. Glidden while coming to America, 1849. THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY JAMES J. HOLMBERG SPRING 2013 69 Marschall landed in New Orleans and journeyed to Mobile where a cousin lived. The cousin, preparing to leave for the California goldfields, encouraged Marschall to join the party. The young artist declined and instead settled in Marion, Alabama, because, as he recalled in 1905, of its reputation as a seat of learning, the area’s beauty, and the many wealthy planters and old southern families living in the area that represented prospective clients. He opened a studio teaching art and music as well as painting portraits. By the fall of 1851, Marschall had become assistant teacher of music, drawing, painting, and Pencil sketch of an unidentified African American—likely a slave— on Napoleon Lockett’s Plantation, 1853. THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY NICOLA MARSCHALL, ARTIST AND SOLDIER 70 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY French and German language at the Marion Female Seminary. The school’s 1851 circular letter lists Marschall’s position and credentials, stating that his “accuracy of Drawing, boldness of conception, and richness of coloring, (in oil, water or body colors) is unsurpassed by any artist in the country. Mr. M. is a very superior performer on the Guitar and Violin, and also assists Prof. Daly on the Piano and Harp. He speaks English fluently, correctly, and with purity, and is highly competent to teach German and French languages.” Marschall also continued to paint and sketch, as well as attend and play in concerts, for his pleasure and paid commissions.2 Marion Female Seminary circular listing staff, courses, and expenses, August 16, 1851. THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY JAMES J. HOLMBERG SPRING 2013 71 In 1857, Marschall returned to Europe for two years for a family visit and additional artistic training and study. Though based in Germany, he visited London, Paris, Rome, and other cities. In 1859, he returned to the Marion Female Seminary with a growing reputation as a portrait painter. In 1861, Marschall fulfilled two requests that fixed his place in Confederate history. In March, the Confederacy...