Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 75

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(CIVIL WAR--NEW YORK.) Documents on the early months of the Washington Grays, including a satirical account of the officer's mess. 8 items in one folder, various sizes, generally minor wear. Various places, 1861-1862
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The Washington Grays were mustered as Company G of the 47th New York Infantry in September 1861; they spent most of the next four years in the Carolinas and Florida. These papers document their early formation in Manhattan. A 15 July 1861 order finds Captain Charles A. Moore training his men at Camp Wakeman, Long Island, where he is asked to hold elections for company officers. A list of dozens of recruits gives their ages and residences, and names the company's officers. Another list of enlisted men is for men needing "entire outfits." An invoice issued by a Manhattan clothier is for "coat & pants for drum major Keebler," $40.00.

Three documents date from after the company's arrival in the deep south. A long list of food supplies spans from 23 December 1861 to 3 February 1862, apparently covering the entire company.

One curious 4-page document can only be explained as a satirical response to very austere conditions in the field, similar to the creation of an "Astor House Mess" dining club by the starving prisoners at Andersonville. It was presumably drafted while the company was stationed at coastal Hilton Head or Beaufort, SC in 1862. Headed "Hotel de Tien Tien," it lists the "Rules and Regulations to Govern the Mess of this Hotel." It names the company's seven officers, designating them as "father," "mother," "uncle," "aunty," "eldest son," "eldest daughter," and "country cousin"; and then names the "colored retinue": "Don Jack Edwards, Mosambique"; "Sir Harry Dubois, Hottentot"; and "Senr. Charles Perry, Novagambia." These were apparently actual servants for the officer's mess, with glorified titles. The regulations included specifications such as "Supper: Sir Harry Dubois the celebrated & world known Hottentot will announce this course between sunset & sunrise if convenient." Dubois had one other duty: "Immediately after the board is cleared, the Hottentot will parade the mess toothpick, being particular to lick it clean before passing it to each member." We suspect that the specifications for champagne distribution and issuance of gondolas were fictional.

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