LOT OF 2: CIVIL WAR CANES, GETTYSBURG AND USS HARTFORD

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/15/2022

Lot consists of 2 Civil War canes: (A) Gettysburg battlefield cut souvenir cane made from branch of tree with carved bird handle. With (B) 1900s note reading, "Cane= Grandfather Steadman. This was a young tree from Battlefield of Gettysburg. The handle is root of the tree." CONDITION: Very good. Nice patina. Minor wear to varnish. This comes from a western PA collection. Steadman was likely 1 of 2 men by that name in the 145th, one in the 83rd, or less possibly one in the 111th, all present at Gettysburg. (C) Cane made from the flagstaff of the U.S.S. Hartford. Likely a Bannerman souvenir salvaged when the ship was being rebuilt in the 1890s. A period typed note is preserved under celluloid held by metal ferrules near the handle reading, "The HARTFORD was assigned as the flag ship of Flag Officer Farragut, and with him on board sailed from Phil. Jany. 20, 1862, and stopped at Hampton Roads, Port Royal, Key West, and Havana, and arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River Feby 21, 1862, where Farragut at once assumed command and direction of Gulf Blockading Squadron, whose limits were St. Andrews Bay near Pensacola on the east, and the Rio Grande on the west. The passage of the forts can be found in the Official records of the government. The wood in this cane was made from the Flag staff of the Hartford." Launched in 1858 and commissioned in 1859, the ship is best known for its role in the Battle of the Forts below New Orleans, fighting on the Mississippi at Port Hudson in the Vicksburg Campaign and, most famously, the Battle of Mobile Bay. The ship was decommissioned several times and rebuilt in the 1890s. Although considered for preservation for a naval museum, the ship was allowed to deteriorate, sank at is moorings in 1956, and was dismantled. Relics survive in many public institutions and were eagerly sought after by veterans. CONDITION: Very good. Celluloid shifted color to orange. Patina to ferrules. Black tape repair on grip near ferrule.