December 14-17, 2021 Collectible Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/14/2021
This inscribed silver Sixth Corps badge bears the name "L.A. Bryant" in script in an arc over "Co. C" on the central cross bar of the badge. The bottom of the vertical bar is broken off, but the top of the regimental numerical designation is visible. There is no doubt about the soldier who wore it in action on the battlefield where he was killed and the badge was recovered a century later: Lewis A. Byant, Company C, 4th Vermont Volunteers, serving at the time in the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 6th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. Bryant was born about 1843 in Mendon, Vermont, was a cotton-spinner at a mill in Windsor in 1860 described 5' 5" tall with dark complexion, brown hair and eyes. He was credited to the town of Chester, when he enlisted at Cavendish 27 August 1861 and mustered in there as a private in Co. G on September 21. The regiment formed part of the Old Vermont Brigade, with which it served throughout the war. Up to the opening of Grant's 1864 overland campaign, their battle honors included, Lee's Mills, Williamsburg, Golding's Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Crampton's Gap, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Marye's Heights (Second Fredericksburg,) Gettysburg, Funkstown, and Rappahannock Station. Bryant seems to have been present throughout most of the heavy service, being listed absent sick only from late July 1863 through the end of October, part of which time he was a General Hospital in Brattleboro, perhaps giving him a last visit home before rejoining the regiment in November. On May 5, 1864, at the Wilderness the regiment held the left of the brigade line and fought a "concealed foe" at less than 75 yards for "upwards of an hour.". The fighting cost them 10 officers wounded and 8 killed outright or mortally wounded. Of some 550 enlisted men in the fight, they lost 223 wounded, 43 mortally wounded, and 41 killed outright, including Bryant, with just 4 men missing. This piece was recovered on private property with owner's permission near the Orange Plank Road in the 1960s. The finder noted that the area was carpeted with empty magazine tins from the fighting along with buttons and other artifacts. In a cruel bit of irony, Bryant's loss of the identification badge in the fighting apparently led to the failure to subsequently identify his body. We have found no marked grave for him. His mother, Mary, applied for a pension in 1870. Her file would likely supply more personal information. CONDITION: Very good, but missing the lower branch of the cross. The engraved border line and script identification is professionally done and fully legible. The pin and clasp hook are missing from the reverse. This is a very telling memento of a life cut short in the country's service.
Item Dimensions: 3" X 3"