OVAL PUPPY-PAW US BELT PLATE WITH LEATHER RECOVERED IN 1955 BY SYD KERKSIS IN U.S. 2nd CORPS LINES AT COLD HARBOR

OVAL PUPPY-PAW US BELT PLATE WITH LEATHER RECOVERED IN 1955 BY SYD KERKSIS IN U.S. 2nd CORPS LINES AT COLD HARBOR

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$595.00 ON HOLD

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2026-567

This regulation US Civil War belt plate comes with Syd Kerksis’ original collection envelope with notations indicating he found it in April 1955 at Cold Harbor in the lines held by Barlow’s Division of the 2nd Army Corps. The plate is in excellent excavated condition, showing a pleasing medium, chocolate brown patina on the face, relatively uniform, with some whitish residue in recesses along the raised letters and edge. The letters are well defined. We just two very slight dings on the “U” and small one on the edge at top.  The reverse preserves both ends of the infantryman’s waistbelt- the end securing the two oval fastening studs and a portion of the other end around the hook. The lead solder fill shows as mix of gray and white with some brown stains. We do not see any significant chipping or losses.

The US Army adopted the oval US belt plate in 1839, with larger plates used for dragoons and riflemen and smaller ones for infantry until the 1850s. The oval-top studs for securing the belt are a classic early-war feature, being produced by contractors into 1863 with flat, arrowhead studs coming into general use by 1864 though, as would have been the case here, many veteran soldiers were still wearing their earlier pattern gear.

Fighting at Cold Harbor lasted from May 31, 1864, to June 12, as part of Grant’s Overland Campaign, but the fiercest combat took place on June 3, in which Barlow’s troops were heavily involved, when poorly coordinated Union assaults ended up costing somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 casualties by most estimates, with Confederates suffering perhaps a quarter of that. Fighting then devolved into trench warfare that only added to the casualty list until Grant and Meade disengaged, crossed the James River and threatened Petersburg. Even Grant admitted, “I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made. . . At Cold Harbor no advantage whatever was gained to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained.”

This belt plate is in very good condition, comes from an historic battlefield and has a great provenance. Kerkis was one of the legendary early relic hunters and collectors, and author of “Plates and Buckles of the American Military 1795-1874,” which led the way for a couple of generations of relic hunters, collectors, students, and authors.   [sr][ph:L]

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