Rebellion and Relics

Saturday morning I participated in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History's Rebellion and Relics program as part of the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.  My presentation highlighted the Civil War related items in the various collections we maintain in the Archives and Records Services Division.  While I was there, I took some pictures of some of the artifacts that our Museum Division maintains and of a few of the reenactors who were there.  All of these activities were held in and around our Old Capitol Museum.  I hope that you enjoy these pictures.  As usual, please click on each image for a larger picture.

First, some of the artifacts:

The old Mississippi House Chamber where the programs were presented.

Two of the many uniform pieces in the Museum collection.  On the right is the butternut wool coat of Lieutenant T. Otis Baker of the 10th Mississippi Infantry Regiment.  On the left is a shirt made from brocaded silk curtains looted from the Old Capitol building by a Union soldier in 1863.

These are Jefferson Davis' .44 caliber rifled dueling pistols.  They were taken from him when he was captured in 1865, returned to the Davis family in 1914 by the War Department, and then donated to the Department's collection.

Restored flag of the 4th Mississippi Infantry Regiment.  If you look carefully, you can see that the "VICKS" in Vicksburg has been replaced during the restoration by slightly larger letters.  That was one portion of the flag that was completely missing.  The lighter red and blue places are where new material was added (as a backing) to replace material that had been lost over the years.

Flag of the Burt Rifles (Company K, 18th Mississippi Infantry Regiment.  This flag has also been carefully restored to its former full-color glory.  The tree in the center is a Magnolia tree with its white flowers in full bloom.  The leaves and the flowers were painted in great detail by the painter in 1861.

And now a few of the reenactors who set-up outside the main entrance to the Old Capitol:

A Union cavalryman showing some of the guests the flag carried by his regiment and the weapons and accoutrements he carried.

A sailor from the USS Benton talks to a guest about life aboard a Union gunboat on the Mississippi River.  This reenactor is also a master model maker and has done many models and dioramas for the Department and the Blue and Gray Naval Museum (in Vicksburg), among others.

Two United States Colored Troops reeanctors.  The sergeant on the left is from an infantry regiment while the sergeant on the right is from a heavy artillery regiment.  Mississippi contributed some 11 regiments (8 infantry, 1 cavalry, and 2 heavy artillery) of former slaves (some 18,000 men) to the Union cause.

There were, before I left, only two Confederate reenactors present.  There was such a crowd around their table that I couldn't get a picture.  But I will leave you with a vintage (1976) picture on Confederate Civil War reeanactors:

Two of the five (left and right outside men) are now deceased.  The center reenactor is who sent me the picture, which was taken at Asphodel Plantation in Lousiana.  All five were college mates of mine.