Confederate General Ben McCulloch bloodstained shirt fragment Confederate Texas

  

Confederate General Ben McCulloch bloodstained shirt fragment. I would like to proudly present my original exceedingly rare bloodstained fragment of Confederate Brigadier General Ben McCulloch's shirt. This piece of cloth was torn from General McCulloch's corpse by Union First Lieutenant (later Captain) Allen Varner (Company D, 25th Illinois Infantry Regiment) after he was killed in action at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas on March 7, 1862. Born in Rutherford County, Tennessee on November 11, 1811, Ben McCulloch was a rugged fearless American frontiersman. Deeply influenced by his close friend and neighbor, Davy Crockett, McCulloch traveled to Texas in 1835.

Bedridden with a bout of the measles, McCulloch barely missed participating in the Battle of the Alamo where Crockett was slain. A veritable renaissance man and truly a legend in his own time, McCulloch was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a major general in the Texas Militia and thereafter a major in the United States Army (United States Volunteers) during the Mexican-American War, sheriff of Sacramento County, California, a U. Marshal and a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the War Between the States (American Civil War). During the Civil War, General McCulloch commanded the Confederate right wing at the Battle of Pea Ridge (or Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas.

On the midmorning of March 7, 1862, General McCulloch had personally ridden out ahead of his troops to reconnoiter when he was violently unhorsed with a fatal gunshot wound through the heart by an Illinois sharpshooter. Having a decided dislike of any display of military pomp, General McCulloch was wearing his customary black velvet suit and Wellington Boots at the time of his death. Without delay, Union skirmishers rushed to General McCulloch as he lay dead, robbing him of his Morse Carbine, field glasses, pocket watch and other personal effects.

Present and accounted for at the scene, First Lieutenant Allen Varner of Company D, 25th Illinois Infantry Regiment cut off a piece of General McCulloch's bloodstained black & white pinstriped shirt (measuring approximately 1 1/2 X 1 1/4 inches) as a souvenir. In a subsequent letter, dated November 26, 1863, newly promoted Captain Varner wrote to his colleague, First Lieutenant Lines L.

Parker (who had resigned from Company D, 25th Illinois Infantry Regiment one month earlier) and described his participation in the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee. On the second page of that letter, Captain Varner pinned General McCulloch's bloodstained shirt fragment to the upper left-hand side with the inked notation, "piece of the shirt worn by Ben McCulloch when he was killed". The pin was removed from the letter years ago to prevent any deterioration to the shirt fragment. That pin is not included in this sale.

Cal Packard earlier this year. Packard is the proprietor of Museum Quality Americana (mqamericana.

I have enclosed a scan of Mr. Packard's signed letter of authenticity (the original will be included with this sale).

Over the years, I have personally owned an original fragment of Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's bloodstained nightshirt as well as an original piece of Confederate Lieutenant General A. There is no doubt in my mind that this is an authentic fragment of General Ben McCulloch's bloodstained shirt. Captain Varner's original letter will be included with the bloodstained shirt fragment in this sale. The picture of General McCulloch which I used as an illustration in this ad will not be included in the sale. Please ask all questions before the sale and I will be happy to relate all I know regarding the provenance of this original grouping. The item "Confederate General Ben McCulloch bloodstained shirt fragment Confederate Texas" is in sale since Saturday, November 27, 2021. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Postcards & Supplies\Postcards\Non-Topographical Postcards". The seller is "stierhistory" and is located in Jacksonville, Florida.

This item can be shipped to United States.

• Artist: Confederate General Ben McCulloch of Texas
• Type: Confederate Texas Confederate letter Confederate cdv
• Occasion: Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas
• Era: Civil War
• Theme: Confederate letter Confederate cdv Battle of Pea Ridge
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Subject: Confederate Texas letter cdv