Captured Slipper of CSA Capt. Obadiah Jennings Wise, 59th & 46th Virginia Infantries

Leather mule slipper, with handwritten note affixed to underside: “This pair of Slippers was presented to Charles Francis Chidsey by Sergeant Rich[ard] J. Williams, of the 51st Pa. Regiment, Pa. Vols. They were captured at Battle of Roanoke Island, Virginia, 1862 from the trunk of the Confederate General O. Jennings Wise.”
?Obadiah Jennings Wise (1831-1862) was the son of the 33rd Virginia Governor and Confederate General Henry A. Wise (1806-1876). A passionate Virginian, the younger wise was commissioned as a captain of Company A of the 59th Virginia Infantry at the outbreak of war on 21 April 1861. Mid-August, he was transferred to Co. A of the 46th Virginia Infantry, under his father’s command. Not long after, he met his demise at the Battle of Roanoke Island, where the handwritten note claims that this trophy of war was taken, though it inaccurately identifies his rank as that of general, possibly conflating him with his father. Though Richard J. Williams is not identified, the 51st was present at the pivotal battle of Burnside’s Expedition. It was then passed to Charles Francis Chidsey (1843-1933) who had enlisted at Easton, PA as an 18-year-old private and mustered into Co. D of the 129th Pennsylvania on the 11th. He mustered out after 9 months service but re-enlisted on 3 July 1863 and was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant into Co. C of the 38th Pennsylvania. The relic remained in his family, passing to George W. Chidsey.


[Civil War, Burnside’s Expedition, Union, Confederate, Relic, Ephemera]