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Military Collector & Historian
Francis Back René Chartrand
22. Will Gorenfeld, “The Taos Mutinyof 1855,” New Mexico Historical Review, 88, no. 2 (Summer 2013): 287; Katie Bowen to Father, 2 May 1852, Katie Bowen letters to her to Father & Mother, Arrott Collection, New Mexico Highlands University. 23. A detailed account of the Taos Plaza revolt of 1855 and the courts-martial which followed may be found in Gorenfeld, “The Taos Mutiny of 1855,” 287; William B. Skelton, An American Brotherhood of Arms, the Army Officer Corps 1784–1861, (Lawrence, Kansas: The University Press of Kansas, 1992), 188. 24. Skelton, Profession of Arms, 268. 25. Ibid., 272. 26. Edward A. Dolph, Sound Off! Soldier Songs (New York; Cosmopolitan Books, 1929), 395. 27. War Department, Adjutant General, Orders and Circulars: General Orders No. 3, 27 January 1853. 28. Bennett, Forts and Forays, 38. 29. Stevenson Journal, 16. 30. Gorenfeld, “The Taos Mutiny of 1855.” 31. Skelton, Profession of Arms, 275. 32. See e.g., an account of a private of the Regiment of Mounted Rifles, who casually rode up to his sergeant at Fort Stanton, New Mexico, and shot him dead. James E. Farmer, ed. Dale F. Giese, My Life with the Army in the West (Santa Fe: New Mexico, 1967), 39. 33. Court Martial of Lowe. 34. Lowe, Five Years, 36. 35. Major Chilton seems to have had two slaves living with him while serving at Fort Kearny. This is evidenced by a 10 September 1849, letter written by Henry Turner, a recently retired officer in the 1st Dragoons, to Lt. John Love at Fort Kearny, stating “our friend Chilton at Fort Kearney, requesting me to purchase for him a negro woman. I have now the prospect of complying with his request after many unsuccessful efforts. In the event of my succeeding I am directed by C. to send the woman to you, to be forwarded to Fort K. I learned but a few days ago that there was at Booneville a woman for sale achieving the description required by C. and I have written to a friend there to buy her and have requested him to ship her to you at Fort Leav[anwot]th. Should she arrive of course you will have been informed of C.’s wishes in relation to her.” John Love Collection, Indiana Historical Association. 36. Testimony of Major Chilton, 41. 37. Lowe’s written defense, 67. 38. Testimony of Sgt. Hooper, 55. 39. The well-educated Pvt. Edward O’Meara was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1848. He obtained employment as a law clerk in New York, but when the plains called he obeyed, causing him to enlist in the dragoons. Lowe, in Five Years a Dragoon, at page 39, mentions that O’Meara “possessed one of the most genial, kindly and attractive temperaments I have ever known.” Farrier Edward O’Meara was placed in custody following the Taos Plaza riot and, upon release, transferred to Company B. He twice reenlisted, seeing combat with the regiment in the Civil War; he was honorably discharged in 1867. 40. Testimony of Pvt. O’Meara, 61. 41. Testimony of Bugler Bostick, 64. 42. Testimony of Pvt. Drummond, 65. 43. Lowe’s court-martial, prisoner’s defense, 67. 44. See e.g., Lowe, Five Years, 105, 128.
T
he Montreal artistic and historical community was saddened to learn of the passing of one of its most noted members on 5 October 2017, after a long illness in his fifty-eighth year. To Company members, he was a talented artist that, from the 1980s, contributed some fourteen Military Uniforms in America (MUIA) plates. He also wrote two articles and contributed occasional illustrations for Military Collector & Historian (MC&H). Nearly all these publications concerned the material culture of seventeenth and eighteenth century New France, an era that he knew extremely well as a result of the significant amount of time Francis spent (one day a week, every week, for many years) performing scholarly research upon early records at the Archives Nationales du Québec à Montréal. All types of early costumes were of passionate interest and not just military uniforms; civilian clothing of early settlers for both genders of all ages, sailor’s clothing, garments of aboriginals as well as livery clothing anywhere. To this were added all sorts of arms, architecture, and almost anything that would be commonly seen centuries ago as some of his MUIA plates testify. Francis was born into an illustrator’s world as his father was Frédéric Back, an artist awarded two “Oscars” among many other honors for his outstanding achievements in the illustration of animated films. Recognizing their son’s remarkable talent, Francis was sent to the art academy in Basel, Switzerland, to learn the basics of professional illustration work. Francis always worked as a freelance illustrator. The illustrations he produced for the Company, Parks Canada, and many museums were often the very first visual renderings reconstructed from written descriptions and were hailed as outstandingly accurate as well as being on the leading edge of the illustrator’s art. Much, if not most of the aforementioned detail regarding the rich background and accomplishments of this very talented man is very likely to remain unknown by most Company members. Francis was also a master storyboard artist for cinematic productions, as well as having worked in various capacities on more than one hundred film and television productions. In addition to all of this, Francis Back taught art at universities in both Canada and Taiwan. The Marguerite Bourgeois Museum in Montreal honored him with an exhibition of his works in 2012. Rest in Peace, mon cher ami.
