This is an antique Civil War Confederate soldier's fife. The initials "LMJ" are carved along the shaft. According to family history, the fife belonged to William Smith, a young Louisiana soldier who served in the Confederate Army. Smith joined the effort at the age of 14 and played the fife, carried water, and tended the horses of his cavalry regiment. The name "William Smith" appears in the roll of Louisiana soldiers indicating he served in F Company of the Second Louisiana Cavalry. If this soldier is the gentleman who played this fife, historic records show that he was captured at Natchitoches in March 1864, taken to New Orleans, and exchanged at Red River Landing in July of the same year. The family history was recounted in the book titled "Army Brat, a Memoir" by William Jay Smith, the 19th U.S. Poet Laureate. His memoir was published in 1980 by Persea Books. The page in the memoir pertaining specifically to the provenance of this fife is pictured.
15" long

Dings to the ferruls and some chipped losses to the wood below the ferrule on the embouchure hole end.