Description

Please visit our eBay store for a complete list of in-stock Civil War relics organized by recovery location. We are working as partners in conjunction with Gettysburg Relics to offer some very nice American Civil War relics for sale. The owner of Gettysburg Relics was the proprietor of Artifact at 777 on Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg for a number of years, and we are now selling on eBay. THE BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR, VIRGINIA - FROM THE WILLIAM 'Bill' A. REGER COLLECTION - Two interesting relics, a brass end lock or latch, off of a strap measuring about 3/4", and a blown artillery shell fuse threaded section that measures about 5/8" by 3/4", that were recovered from the Battlefield of Cold Harbor. The strap ends were used on a variety of leather items, from cases, carrying bags, leather diaries or books. This artifact was a part of the collection of William A. Reger from Berks County, Pennsylvania, who carefully documented his relics by recovery location and often with the recovery date. He passed away in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2011. 'After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan’s cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving on the field, Grant launched an assault on the evening of June 1 with the VI and XVIII Corps. The Union infantry gained ground which emboldened Grant to launch another assault two days later. Before dawn on June 3, elements from five Union army corps attacked the Confederate entrenchments, only to be massacred by Lee's infantry. Both sides remained in place for a week. Unable to destroy Lee, Grant decided to disengage and move on the Confederate rail center of Petersburg in the middle of June.' We include as much documentation with the relics as we possess. This includes copies of tags if there are identification tags or maps, as well as a signed letter of provenance with the specific recovery information. All of the collections that we are offering for sale are guaranteed to be authentic, and are either older recoveries, found before the 1960s when it was still legal to metal detect battlefields, or were recovered on private property with permission. Some land on Battlefields that is now Federally owned, or owned by the Trust, was acquired after the items were recovered. We will not buy or sell any items that were recovered illegally, nor will we sell any items that we suspect were recovered illegally. Thank you for viewing!