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For immediate release
Contact: Beth E. Gerber, Director of Marketing
Telephone: 717-260-1861, Ext. 1201
Virginia 'Treasures' On Display
Custer
Collection joins Virginia Artifacts Exhibited at
The National Civil War Museum
Harrisburg, PA (August 12, 2004) - An
exclusive short-term exhibit opened this week at The National Civil War
Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The
collection, entitled the Trevilian Station Exhibit, presents
Brigadier General Custer’s frock coat, handsome Tiffany presentation
sword, ornate fore and aft hat (or Chapeau de bras), as well as a hand
tooled leather valise, sash, sword belt and leather gauntlets.
Confederates captured these items on June 11, 1864.
On that day, Custer’s command was under orders to effect “the
complete and thorough destruction of the Virginia Central Railroad.”
The local railroad served as a vital supply link connecting the
Shenandoah Valley, alternately known as the “Bread Basket of the
South”, with Gordonsville, Trevilian Station, Louisa Court House and the
beleaguered Confederate capital in Richmond.
The
fight that ensued around Trevilian Station was described as much
“bewildering” as it was violent.
Cavalrymen, blue and gray alike, fought like infantrymen, from tree
to tree, in the dense thickets and forests enveloping the rail line and
the depot. By mid-day
Custer’s command had worked themselves behind the Confederate’s
scattered positions, capturing 1,500 of their horses, supply wagons,
artillery caissons and prisoners. In
the heat of battle, and within minutes, the tables turned.
The Union Cavalrymen were surrounded by Confederate troops for a
brief, very anxious time. Custer
was slightly wounded and his own wagon train was captured.
Lost to the Union men in that action were the possessions now on
exhibit at The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“It
is absolutely amazing that any artifacts survived that vicious fight, must
less significant war prizes like the Custer items,” commented Museum
CEO, George E. Hicks. “This
is the first time that these materials have been exhibited east of the
Mississippi River and we are very pleased to be able to share these
remarkable historic pieces with the public.”
In
addition to the Trevilian Station Exhibit, the Museum also features
several other Virginia treasures. A
Confederate campaign chest, revolver and dispatch case are located near
the Custer artifacts. The
campaign chest of Captain Charles Jones Green of Company A, 47th
Virginia Infantry is on display nearby, containing a Remington New Model
Army Revolver and personal grooming articles.
Captain Green was commissioned on April 23, 1861 and fought for the
Confederacy until April, 1865. During
the War, he was wounded on four separate occasions, Gaines’ Mill,
Chancellorsville, Spotsylvanina Court House and Weldon Railroad.
Brigadier General John Echols’ revolver, presented by the
grateful citizens of Lynchburg is also on display.
Engraving on the pistol’s back strap reads, “CSA presented to
GEN. JOHN ECHOLS from the citizens of Lynchburg, Virginia.”
Displayed nearby is the Dispatch Case of the flamboyant Brigadier
General Turner Ashby, used by the Confederate Cavalry Commander during the
Shenandoah Valley Campaigns of 1862.
General Ashby became one of the South’s most beloved equestrians
in the year leading up to his death on June 6, 1862, while leading a
charge at Port Republic, Virginia.
Other
notable Virginia artifacts in the Museum include, Dr. Hunter McGuire’s
sword (the surgeon who amputated General Jackson’s arm); two of J.E.B.
Stuart’s sabers; General Stonewall Jackson’s gauntlet (worn when
wounded at Chancellorsville); General Pickett’s kepi; a pair of General
Lee’s gauntlets, his Bible and hat cord; General Pickett’s sash; a
chair from the Confederate White House; and a key to Libby Prison.
The
National Civil War Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the
entire scope of the war that divided our nation.
Exhibits are factual, yet humanistic in presentation, without bias
to the Union or Confederate causes.
The
National Civil War Museum, which has an on-site, full-service café and
museum shop, is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.,
and Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m. For
more information about this unique attraction, please call 717.260.1861,
or visit the Museum’s website at www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org.
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2004
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