December 16, 17, & 18, 2025 Firearms & Militaria
Lot #2248:
HISTORIC CIVIL WAR PRESENTATION KNIFE AND WALKING STICK INSCRIBED TO JOHN SALISBURY WOUNDED AT GETTYSBURG.
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/17/2025
Attractive Civil War presentation cane inscribed on the top of the grip to corporal John Salisbury of Company B, 62nd Pennsylvania Infantry. Salisbury enlisted on 22 July 1861 and was with the regiment through most of the major battles of the Eastern Theater early in the war including the siege of Yorktown, the Seven Days, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Savage Station, Malvern Hill, Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, where the regiment laid for a day and two nights under withering fire from the Confederate positions behind the stone wall on Marye's Heights. At the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, the 62nd was part of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, V Corps under Major General Sykes. On the second day of the battle, elements of V Corps including the 62nd were rushed into action on the Union left flank to support the collapsing III Corps under Major General Sickles. The 2nd Brigade, including the 62nd, found itself heavily engaged in "the wheat field" and along Wheatfield Road, including hand-to-hand combat and nearly being cut off. The brigade entered the battle with nearly 900 men but would leave it with barely half that many. According to the inscription on the cane, Salisbury was wounded at Gettysburg, and it was likely that it happened during carnage of "the wheatfield". By the time the 62nd Pennsylvania marched away from Gettysburg after the third day of fighting, it could muster barely 90 men. The regiment would go on to be involved in the battles of The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and the Siege of Petersburg, before Salisbury and his company were mustered out on 13 July 1864. The gilt knob-shaped grip of the cane exhibits the inscription Presented / -to- / Corpl John Salisbury /Co B 62nd P.V. / by his friends / in Birmingham". Many of the major battles the regiment was involved in are inscribed in several escutcheons around the sides along with "Wounded / at / Gettysburg", all surrounded by floral motifs. The knob was tested and is 14K gold. The ebony shaft is decorated with ivory tacks and is tipped with a German silver and iron ferrule. The cane is accompanied by a small Bowie knife with a clip point blade marked "HENRY / HOBSON / & SONS". The knife also features a silvered guard and a nearly identical handle with ebony grip and raised abalone inlays. The knife exhibits a gray patina with wear to the handle. Cane remains sturdy with intact haft and generous amounts of gilding. Knob exhibits one small stress crack. CONDITION: Very good.
Item Dimensions: Longest: 37"
Paperwork
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