SoldierS & SailorS MeMorial Hall & MuSeuM TruST, inc.
Witness to History
GETTYSBURG tales tHe artifacts tell
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elcome to a special e-preview of an upcoming publication featuring soldiers & sailors Memorial Hall & Museum's civil War collection commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg address. this is the first time that our Gettysburg artifacts have been featured as a group of objects with a common theme. our effort to identify these specific pieces led to this opportunity to share the unique collection as it relates to the historic events of 1863. look for the completed catalogue soon.
the collection of Gettysburg artifacts archived in soldiers & sailors Memorial Hall & Museum for nearly 100 years includes swords, long arms, flags and personal items carried by local soldiers. each item has been professionally photographed and captioned for this publication. it is our hope that by bringing light to these historically important artifacts we also bring renewed interest to soldiers & sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.
Soldiers & Sailors Auditorium on Opening Day, October 10, 1910 filled with Civil War Veterans.
GettysburG and soldiers & sailors the story of the Battle of Gettysburg is meaningful to americans in many ways. to those of us involved in the operation of soldiers & sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, the 150th anniversary of the historical battle helps bring awareness to the Memorial commemorating the service of those Western Pennsylvanians who fought to end the rebellion. Many of those who served were local men who fought in key locations on the battlefield and played important roles in deciding the fate of both the Union army and our nation. While the staff of soldiers & sailors contemplated how to mark the Gettysburg battle and Gettysburg address anniversaries within the context of what our memorial represents, we looked to our collection to see what artifacts are directly linked to these historic events. We were able to gather objects that have been in the collection for decades and interpret them in a new context, one that enriches our understanding of both the Gettysburg event and our holdings. for years, Gettysburg related artifacts were spread around display areas or stored in our archives leaving them disjointed and without a theme. this publication will serve to highlight and refocus the objects to better fit today’s appetite for all things Gettysburg.
The Auditorium of Soldiers & Sailors as seen today, including the largest rendition of the Gettysburg Address in the country.
General G.K. Warren artifacts on display for the first time a truly historical group of artifacts highlighted in this publication are the sword, spur, telescope and mapping tool used by Major General Gouverneur K. Warren during the war. Warren played a significant role at Gettysburg by ordering Union troops to defend little round top, a strategically important battlefield feature. the artifacts showcased here, for the first time ever, were carefully passed through the Warren family to g-g-g nephew Howard c. smith. after the passing of Mr. smith, his wife, Ginny (a native Pittsburgher), generously offered soldiers & sailors the opportunity to display the historic artifacts.
What’s old is neW; a discovery made Within our collection. one significant discovery made while pulling together Gettysburg artifacts from our civil War collection was that a number of our pieces were once part of a store display in a Gettysburg establishment known as the Danner Museum. in recent years, new scholarly research regarding artifacts from the Danner Museum (in operation from 1863 to 1904) has come to the forefront. the link between the Danner collection and the soldiers & sailors collection was the publication (in 2009) of a number of vintage photographs (circa 1880) showing various Danner displays in which artifacts are neatly lined up on shelves, each having a hand painted number on the piece. By carefully comparing numbered artifacts in the century old photos to similarly numbered artifacts in our collection, we were able to positively identify nearly a dozen items as the identical pieces to those in the vintage photos. not only did the discovery lock in the provenance of our artifacts to the Gettysburg battle, but we believe this to be the first time any artifact shown in any Danner photo has been located.
canteen from the field of battle this canteen was used by a Union soldier who abandoned it on the Gettysburg battlefield. sometime in the aftermath it was picked up as a curiosity and years later came into the collection of soldiers & sailors Memorial Hall and Museum. for many years our canteen hung in various displays until recently when the distinctive "Union 7." on the cover was observed to be identical to the lettering on a canteen seen in a circa 1890 Danner Museum inventory photograph. Proof that this is the same piece came by matching distinctive white lettering style and the triangularly shaped tear.
a toKen of esteem Sword Presented to capt. Wm. J. Patterson Just Before Gettysburg
William J Patterson was among the first allegheny county men to answer lincoln’s call for volunteers in 1861. By the end of 1862 Patterson, captain of company f, 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteers, had been wounded three times and had once been a prisoner of war for two months before being exchanged for a confederate colonel. this ornate silver handled presentation sword was given to captain Patterson as a token of esteem by his men on June 27, 1863 only days before the 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer infantry would fight in a life or death contest with confederate troops in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg. on that day, July 2, 1863, Patterson received his fourth war wound, this time in the thigh. after the war William J. Patterson served as a Battle of Gettysburg commissioner for the fiftieth anniversary commemoration in 1913 and held the elected office of national commander of the Gar in 1916. Engraving on the sword reads,“Presented to Lieut. Wm. J. Patterson by the members of Company F, 62 Regt. Pa. Vols. as a token of their esteem for him as a Soldier and a Gentleman Kelly’s Ford June 27, 1863” the oil portrait of William Patterson (in the collection of soldiers& sailors) was painted of him in later life honoring the former Union soldier’s contribution not only to Memorial Hall but to the Grand army of the republic (Gar) as well.
delicate floWers - sWirl of battle the tiny dried flowers in this miniature 3 inch splint basket were actually growing in meadows and fields of Gettysburg as the ferocious battle swirled around them. after the fighting ended the delicate survivors were collected and arranged in a tasteful display, most likely made as an object of memory to be marketed to outsiders who came to view the battlefield. the powerful symbolic contrast between a beautiful flower and the cruelty of the battlefield was appealing to Victorian sediment.
“Memento Of The Battle field of Gettysburg July 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd 1863�
“colored” servant for a union officer Pay voucher to General Geary’s aide de camp at Gettysburg including funds paid out for an african american servant. it is a well known fact that military procedure generates copious amounts of paperwork in the form of orders and daily reports which detail the minutia of soldier life. this voucher records payment for the month of July 1863 to lt. r. Henry Wilbur (102nd n.y. Vols.) who was aide de camp to General John W. Geary during the Battle of Gettysburg. Wilbur not only received his allotted payment for the month ($70.70) but was reimbursed for his personal rations and those of his african american servant andrew Green. it is interesting to note that because Wilbur was an officer he was entitled to three rations per day where Greene only received one. General John Geary, commander of the 2nd Division 12th corps who fought on culp’s Hill, certified the request for payment.
compensation for loss in the immediate years after the Battle of Gettysburg area citizens whose property had been damaged during the campaign sought financial retribution from the federal government. numerous claims were filed for ruined crops, burned buildings, missing livestock and loss of personal goods. of the many claims filed only a small percentage were awarded compensation as the federal government determined that it would be more inclined to pay for damage caused by Union troops as opposed to damage caused by the enemy. a claim and this subsequent award document - “certificate of adjudicated claims for War Damages” dated 1872 – was issued on behalf of lewis B. eyster of Butler township in adams county. Mr. eyster was awarded $335.84 after stating that his crops were carried off, that he lost 2 Heifers (milk cows) plus the loss of equipment taken by rebel scouts on July 2nd. ironically no such reimbursement opportunity existed for southerners who suffered property damage after battles on their soil. this document is signed by two former civil War generals, John W. Geary - who was serving a term as Governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1872 and during the Battle of Gettysburg commanded the 1st Division of the 12th corps which fought on culp’s’ Hill - and John Hartranft a Medal of Honor recipient for his action at first Bull run in 1861.
this publication was made possible in part by our sponsors and donors. We would like to recognize Toshiba Network Solutions for their support.
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soldiers & sailors memorial becomes a museum
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early fifty years after the end of the civil War, aging veterans from allegheny county realized that, as their numbers waned, the need was upon them to leave a memorial behind to their services. So began the task of gathering support to build a memorial where their collective memory could be held in its proper place in history. nearly as soon as Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall opened in 1910, the landmark building became a repository for relics and historical objects from the veteran community. Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum continues to this day to be a place where service members and their families bring objects from their military past to be archived in our important collection.
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