You’re probably familiar with The Bluecoats! You know, that humorous comic strip set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, created in 1968 by Belgian cartoonist Louis Salvérius and writer – also Belgian – Raoul Calvin. These short stories, spread over about forty pages in sixty albums (published to date), immerse us in the daily lives of two Union soldiers: Sergeant Cornelius M. Chesterfield and Corporal Blutch (yes, just Blutch ).
What characterizes this comic series, and what sets it apart from many comics appearing at the time in the Spirou periodical, is the mixture and striking contrast between very well-crafted, sometimes very childish humor and a realistic, detailed, raw vision of the horrors of war.
Blutch and Chesterfield, a comedy duo worthy of Laurel and Hardy
The two main protagonists of the comic book series “The Bluecoats” have everything going for them: one is tall, the other short. One is a conformist, somewhat careerist, ready to die for his country and whose greatest wish is to be promoted; the other is a lazy, indifferent slacker, opposed to war and the army, who thinks of himself above all else. These fundamental differences between them give rise to comical situations, ranging from arguments and mischief to outlandish adventures and complex schemes…
One thing is certain: they often give the impression of hating each other, but they both prove time and again that they are ready to do anything to help each other and not let each other down. This is particularly evident in issue 29, ” Onward, Amnesiac ,” when Blutch loses his mind and Chesterfield goes to great lengths to cure him.
When the small story meets the big one
Most of the characters in The Bluecoats are fictional: from the mare Arabesque, trained by Blutch to collapse at the slightest gunshot, to Captain Stark, the mad West Point graduate who lives only to charge, sword drawn, on his horse (literally, he never leaves his horse! Meaning: he sleeps on his horse, he eats on his horse, and the rare times he is not in the saddle, it is because he is on a stretcher struggling to survive his – frequent – injuries).
Nevertheless, some historical figures appear, and really existed: President Abraham Lincoln, the general-in-chief of the Union armies Ulysses S. Grant, the head of the Confederate armies Robert Lee, the outlaw Quantrill or even Commander George McClellan, at the head of the Army of the Potomac.
And besides, there’s no shortage of real locations in The Bluecoats! Navy battleships like the USS Monitor or the sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge make an appearance in the early days of the series, when Blutch and Chesterfield, after fighting the Indians, are assigned to the navy.
Then the major battles of the Civil War are highlighted: Bull Run, in particular, is a landmark episode. The events that shook society at the time are also recounted, in great detail, in The Bluecoats. Remember the New York Riots issue? Particularly realistic, the episode brings to life the scenes of violence that swept through the city at that time, with the army sometimes ordered to fire Gatling guns at the enraged crowds.
The Bluecoats: an impressive evolution
With 60 albums published to date, Louis Salvérius’s series, continued after his death by Lambil (another Belgian), was originally purely humorous. The first episode, published in Spirou magazine, wasn’t even set against the backdrop of the American Civil War! It was only later that the war was addressed, in an exponentially more serious manner.
The characters’ traits became less crude; they were refined as the story shifted slightly away from pure comedy to incorporate some historical elements. In any case, given their worldwide success, The Bluecoats will continue to delight their many readers!