Important, oversized, cane with a carved gold head inscribed " Presented to Colonel W. G. Welch by the Employees of Coms. Gen Department June 1st 1863".Beautiful clear original finish on a cherry wood shaft. This cane might have belonged to Colonel W.G. Welch of the Confederate army, or possibly W.G. Welch of the Commissary Department of New York State ( or perhaps both...). A letter in a Kentucky archive from the hand of Abraham Lincoln questions the allegiance of a W.G. Welch during war. . A Commissary General named Welsh from New York state led the party that accompanied president-elect Lincoln when he traveled from Buffalo New York to Albany in 1861.Length 34 1/8 Inches (86.6 cm) Head Diameter 1 3/4 Inches (4.5 cm)

Excellent, some slight sun fading on the cherry wood shaft. Head is not tested or marked, but is almost certainly gold, not gold filled.