Man of Tin blog

Replicants 2005 War Correspondent figure by Peter Cole – 54mm – I finally tracked one down!

***** 2017 post finally posted 2026! ****

According to https://thepoetsbillow.org/gettysburg/, here is just what every battlefield (national park) needs, its very own poet(s) and artist(s) in residence.

http://michiganradio.org/post/michigan-poets-will-be-first-artists-residence-gettysburg

Michelle Boniczek  Evory and Robert Evory were the first artists in residence at Gettysburg Natuonal Military Park, USA, in Summer 2015.

The artists explain their winning Gettysburg proposal in this way: “It’s our hope to use poetry and photography to bridge history and connect park visitors to the individual men and women who participated in the different aspects of the Battle of Gettysburg whether they fought on this field or prayed at home for their sons. Our collaborative project will consist of a series of epistolary, or letter, poems written in the imagined voices of both those at Gettysburg and those of the civilian population at home.” The Artist-Couple, based in Michigan, are the founders of The Poets Billow www.thepoetsbillow.org

Interview: https://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/gettysburg-artists-in-residence-reflect

An interesting podcast interview (30 minutes) in the Gettysburg Seminary Review

http://seminaryexplores.podbean.com/e/new-words-old-war-artists-in-residence-on-the-gettysburg-battlefield/

2016: Jeff Beekman

2017: Artists or Writers in residence Gettysburg

• Chip Beck (Late 2017): A retired U.S. Navy commander and combat artist.
• Susan Semenick (Oct/Nov 2017): A painter focused on landscapes and historical scenes, who painted a living historian as a Civil War surgeon.
• Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo (2017): A poet who produced work reflecting on the park’s history and landscape.
• Joseph Paxton (2017): A sculptor whose work focuses on nature and animal forms.
• Nicholas or Nick Collier (Jan/Feb 2017): A U.S. Marine Corps veteran working in photography, sculpture, and film.
• Ernan Cesar Rivera (July/Aug 2017): A U.S. Veteran who focused on the history of Latinos in the Union Army.
• Brian Emery (2017): An artist representing new media (Alembic Arts).
• Anne Tait 2017

Interesting that some artists or creatives with military veteran status have been chosen, such as military veteran and painter Joshua Osberg.

Recruiting continued for artists and writers in 2019 / 2020 such as Steve Bellin-Oka 2019, children’s book artist (‘B is for Battle Cry‘) and writers David Geister and Patricia Bauer which mentions:

“Programs like Gettysburg National Military Park’s artist-in-residence series, in which acclaimed artists find inspiration from the beauty and history of our national parks, and share their ideas with park visitors, represent some of the highest aspirations of the National Park Service. The Gettysburg battlefield has a long artistic tradition that includes sketches by Alfred Waud during the fighting in 1863, the iconic photography of Alexander Gardner in the immediate aftermath of battle, over a thousand memorial sculptural treasures, and commemorative works by Gutzon Borglum and many others.” Source

and 2020 Lisa Samia and Queen Esther but as of this posting year (2026) this Residency is not currently open, funded as it is by private and public donors.

Gettysburg and the commemoration and memory of the American Civil War remain controversial and divisive still in American politics.

President Donald Trump notably shared his opinions (off the cuff?) at a 2024 rally:

“Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was,” Trump said during a Saturday rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, in what was his first campaign event in the battleground state. “It was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways—it represented such a big portion of the success of this country,” he continued.

“Gettysburg, wow—I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch,” he said. “And the statement of Robert E. Lee, who’s no longer in favor—did you ever notice it? He’s no longer in favor. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.’ They were fighting uphill, he said, ‘Wow, that was a big mistake,’ he lost his great general. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys,’ but it was too late,” Trump added.

Disputed by many historians as to whether Lee ever said this.

Quoted from https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-gettysburg-civil-war-historian-1890325

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Gaming, Battlefields and Writing?

I came across this Gettysberg artist in residence scheme when ‘poetsbillow’  liked my Angria / Glass Town Bronte Imagi-Nations map post.

I often find I get quite a few Likes when I tag gaming posts for any  “Poetry” or Literary references (recently the Brontes, Hans Christian Anderson, Robert Louis Stevenson) such as:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/13/block-city-rls-and-minecraft/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/the-land-of-counterpane/

This is possibly because many imaginative literary types like or have liked collecting toy soldiers, gamed with them, invented Imagi-Nations and Small Worlds with them.

Add in literary types like H. G. Wells, Winston Churchill, G.K. Chesterton, E. Nesbit, George R. R.  “Game of Thrones” Martin the collector of toy knights, Spike Milligan  amongst many others including historical fiction writers, who have  collected, fought battles with or been inspired to wrote by toy soldiers.

E. Nesbit even introduced me to how to feed my toy soldier troops.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/how-to-feed-toy-soldiers/

Other literary types of toy soldiers

Pencil in hand, notebook at the ready, Sten gun slung over the shoulder – this interesting plastic 54mm Airfix  WW2 British Infantry Support figure  is the closest I have to a more recent ‘writer in residence’ in my toy soldier collection.

Along with the well known WW1 poets, there were some fine but less well-known WW2 soldier poets (Keith Douglas, Sidney Keyes, David Raikes etc.) and war artists including Edward Ardizzone. The Imperial War Museum in London has an impressive art collection and occasional art exhibitions such as throughout 2026 https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/beauty-and-destruction-wartime-london-in-art

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Maybe every gaming small battlefield should have its own artist or writer in residence, large or small?

 

Expeditions, explorers and sea captains often took an Artist / Naturalist  with them to record new landscapes, wildlife and tribal cultures.

It was not uncommon for soldiers and sailors to capture in paint their impressions of battle or campaigning life, followed later by the Battle Artist and Official War Artist, then from the American Civil War onwards, the Battlefield photographer.

One figure I finally got around to buying (March 2026) is the Replicants American Civil War writer / news correspondent based on a Gettysburg correspondent or artist http://www.replastic.com/catalogue.php?c=3

This characterful Replicants figure is currently out of stock but one to look out for in bundles via Steve Weston’s Plastic Soldiers website http://plasticsoldiers.co.uk/index.php/period/a-c-w/

Replicants War Correspondent – This figure was produced as part of Plastic Warrior’s 20th Anniversary celebrations (2005). It is based on an original photo taken at Gettysburg of the artist British born American artist A.R.Waud who illustrated the aftermath of Gettysberg and the American Civil War for Harper’s Weekly.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Waud

Battlefield Writers or Artists In Residence?

I cannot think of any other battlefield certainly in the U.K. that has an artist or writer in residence.

It is usually enough of a struggle to protect the site itself from inappropriate development in the US or U.K., before even thinking about interpreters such as a battlefield guide, re-enactors or artists in residences. Done well, it would bring a site alive, boost its supporters and assist in its preservation.

American Battlefield Trust https://www.battlefields.org

Compared to

UK Battlefields Trust http://www.battlefieldstrust.com

Arguably many modern battlefields did have writers or artists in residence at  the time in the form of trench poets, soldier poets and war artists. These included Civil War medic and poet Walt Whitman, here photographed by Civil War photographer Matthew Brady:

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/12/470214579/walt-whitmans-letter-for-a-dying-soldier-to-his-wife-discovered

One to think of for future gaming scenarios and gaming write ups – from the perspective of the tiny battlefield artist, writer, photographer or war correspondent.

The Bronte sisters and brother Branwell even featured writers, journalists and poet characters who wrote poems, letters and press reports within their paracosmic imaginary kingdoms.

What an imaginative hobby, toy soldier collecting and Wargaming can be!

Blogposted by Mark, Man of TIN blog, March 2017 / March 2026