A year ago, Champlain Valley Union High School social studies teacher Tyler Alexander finished a book that focused on the letters of a Vermont Civil War soldier, and his online search for a suitable image for his cover revealed a long-ago painting of the Vermont Brigade at Chancellorsville, painted in 1872 by famous Civil War artist Julian Scott. The owners were in Houston, Texas—and in asking whether he might use the image, Alexander was told the large oil on canvas would soon be auctioned off. Long story short, the painting was purchased a few months ago by Vermont Country Store owner Lyman Orton of Manchester, and this Wednesday, October 29th, from 4 to 6 pm, a public reception will be held at the Vermont State House to unveil the painting for the first time and thank Orton and others for bringing an important piece of Vermont history home to the Green Mountain State.

The reception will include a brief ceremony at 4:30 pm when the painting will be revealed, and noted Civil War historian Howard Coffin will offer remarks as to the painting’s significance. Artist Julian Scott served as a drummer and fifer during the war, and went on to a heralded career, painting Civil War scenes like this that reside in major museums throughout the country. This painting was unknown until Alexander discovered it, and Orton intends to loan it to the State House over the course of the next year. It will hang adjacent to Scott’s other masterpiece, the massive 10-foot by 20-foot “First Vermont Brigade at the Battle of Cedar Creek,” which hangs in the ornate Cedar Creek Room in the heart of the State House.