CIVIL WAR PHOTO & SIGNED BK of 11 CO A ENGINEERS at SEIGE of PETERSBURG 1864

  

Engineers, Army of the Potomac. The men carry rifles and stand around a drummer seated. A Sergeant stands on each end and and man's foot juts into the photo on the left hand corner. Unknown if the photo is CO.

A, or B, or both unlikely? As insignias are difficult to read. The book and photo come from one owner and have been in the family for over 100 years.

The photo is accompanied by an 8x10 inch "Keepsake Album" with 77 signatures of men who made up Company A and B, U. Apparently one soldier (named George) collected the signatures during the Siege of Petersburg VA.

They are dated from August to September 1864. These Company served with distinction throughout the war including building the longest pontoon bridge in history up to that point. I urge you to research what the US Engineers accomplished for the Union during the war. Most include the words "camp near Petersburg" or "near Petersburg". The condition of the paper and signatures is excellent. No mold, no mildew, no water damage. The cursive writing is very neatly done and most includes the home town of the soldier and sometimes an additional salutation, including a couple of original poems. Many of the men came from Massachusetts and NY state. All of the signatures are very legible and easy to read, they are all written on the right side of the page.

The book itself has a broken spine so is in two pieces but no pages are missing. The pages are yellow and white. Some man have written short notes with their signatures including John Bishop of Boston Mass.

In Camp near Petersburg VA. Well George I have met many in the course of social life, only to part again - I hope when we part from each other here it will be to meet again in civil life. On a few entries soldiers note in them that in forty days they will be done with the siege including one who writes " 40 days from to day if all is well" Perhaps this was a rumor through camp that they would be done in 40 days. You could spend hundreds of hours researching these men because the hometowns are included. I looked up many online and found their matching signatures on online letters and photos of them in uniform (Jerome Bottomly of Cherry Hill MA is one). One such George is G. This is the same man National Geographic did a story on, see it online.

He signed up for the war saying he was a typographer, the recruiter misheard that as'topographer' and he became one of the best our nation has produced during that era. A wonderful photo is found online of him appearing to be about 70 with his engineering insignia clearly displayed on his GAR uniform. A rare opportunity to own an outstanding CW photo and important signature book. There are some old notes from the 1960's or 70's and copies of the photo I will include as well.

Wish there were more than 12 photos I could post. We search for unusual, unique, beautiful, quirky and historic items in New England, the majority of which are acquired here in our native Massachusetts.

Renewed Home Antiques guarantees each item to be accurate to the photos and description. All of our items listed are antique or vintage and often vary in condition as a result.

Any defects we find on an item will be noted in the description. The many quality photos posted of these older items should show condition clearly.

The item "CIVIL WAR PHOTO & SIGNED BK of 11 CO A ENGINEERS at SEIGE of PETERSBURG 1864" is in sale since Monday, December 19, 2016. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Militaria\Civil War (1861-65)\Original Period Items\Photographs". The seller is "renewedhome" and is located in Needham, Massachusetts. This item can be shipped to United States.