CRANSTON, R.I. – Gettysburg battlefield-found items, plus a Confederate Louisiana frock coat as well as a Confederate shell jacket and shirt, are highlights at Bruneau & Co. on Wednesday, February 7, leading the Historic Arms & Militaria sale. The catalog is now available for bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
“The material in this auction comes from a variety of museums, historical societies and private collections around the country,” said Bruneau & Co.’s Director of Arms & Militaria Joel Bohy.
The sale’s highest-estimated lot is a Confederate States of America Army Louisiana frock coat with a steel gray jean cloth body. Believed to have been worn by Charles Stebbins of the 5th Louisiana, this famous and highly documented uniform coat is one of the finest enlisted Confederate examples known today. The coat comes with extensive research to 1953 when it was purchased by military historian Robert L. Miller. The coat carries an estimate of $30,000-$40,000.
Charles A. Parkins was an Englishman who served in the CSA’s Louisiana regiment during the war and later returned to England, where in 1905 he donated his coat and shirt to the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich. It was later deacessioned and sold via Sotheby’s in the late 1980s, where it went into the Don Troiani collection. Missing only a single button, these surviving examples of CSA-issued daily battlefield garments are estimated at $30,000-$40,000.
Found on the battlefield after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, this Confederate officer’s kepi (a cap with a flat, circular top and a peak) would have been issued to a captain of infantry. In remarkable condition, the kepi has passed through numerous collections since, including the legendary collection of Steve Mullinax. It comes with extensive documentation and is estimated at $15,000-$20,000.
Also recovered from the Gettysburg battle site is a Confederate Army canteen with a paper label attached, reading Confederate Canteen / picked up on / Gettysburg / Battlefield / 1887 / In a closet / under the / stairs in old / seminary. It has an estimate of $8,000-$12,000.
Commonly depicted in movies about the Civil War was the classic Confederate ‘beehive’ wide-brim slouch hat issued to CSA regulars to help protect them from the rays of the sun. Also found at Gettysburg and retrieved by a Union Army soldier from New York, the hat has been depicted in various Civil War collecting guides. It is estimated at $8,000-$10,000.
