Duty, Honor and Tears, by Mort Kunstler, Premier Canvas

Duty, Honor and Tears, by Mort Kunstler, Premier Canvas Unframed
Long Branch, Millwood, VA, May 24, 1862
 Premier Edition 26” x 37”
Only 15 Signed and Numbered

Canvas produced from the original painting "Duty, Honor and Tears" by Mort Kunstler.  In Clarke County, deep in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains,stands one of the most historic estates in all of America. Christened after a nearby stream, the Historic Long Branch is a beautifully designed home that boasts an impressive legacy. The original plot was drawn up by a young surveyor named George Washington and the farm was later owned by such regal proprietors as Lord Culpeper and Lord Fairfax. In 1842 Hugh Mortimer Nelson, a descendant of the original builder, purchased the property and completed the mansion. During the outbreak of the American Civil War, Hugh Nelson found himself torn between a loyalty to his state and to his country. Representing Clarke County during Virginia’s Secession Convention, he tried to find an alternative to war. According to his colleagues he stood out as “one of the ablest of the Union men of the Virginia Convention of 1861, but who, like most of his party, buckled on his sword when all of Virginia’s efforts at pacification had failed.” After raising a company of cavalry, he served under the flamboyant J.E.B. Stuart before being reassigned as the aide-de-camp for General Richard B. Ewell. While in the field, Nelson wrote home to his children, Hugh, Jr. and Nannie, expressing his desire to be reunited with his family. In May of 1862, Ewell’s men marched through the Shenandoah Valley in order to join up with General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s “Valley Campaign.” Captain Nelson remained on Ewell’s staff throughout the campaign, which eventually took them to the vicinity of Long Branch. On the 23rd of May, the captain took leave of his post in order to make an overnight visit to his beloved home. Once there, he was reunited with his wife, Adelaide Holker Nelson, who had remained at Long Branch, despite its proximity to repeated skirmishes and guerrilla warfare. Over the course of that visit, the Nelsons shared what would ultimately be their last precious hours together. After returning to the ranks, Hugh went on to participate in the Seven Days Battles near Richmond, before succumbing to typhoid fever in August of 1862