(MILITARY CIVIL WAR) Group of 7 Union officer pay vouchers

Sale 2631 - Lot 244

Price Realized: $ 750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(MILITARY--CIVIL WAR.) Group of 7 Union officer pay vouchers describing their personal servants. Partially printed documents signed by the submitting officers, each 10 x 16 inches, with docketing on verso; minimal wear. [Shenandoah Valley, VA], 1 May 1862

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

Each of these pay vouchers is for a single white officer in the 1st Maryland Cavalry. Each one includes a "description of servants" section naming one or two civilian servants, along with their complexion, height, and eye and hair color. Almost all of these servants are "dark," "colored," "yellow," or "mulatto," and some are apparently boys, with heights well under 5 feet. The two "dark" servants for the regiment's lieutenant colonel are simply "Isaac" and "Jack," although the other officers' servants all have surnames. The regimental surgeon was the only one to bring a white servant to the front. For each servant, the officer received an allotment for pay, clothing, and subsistence. The 1st Maryland Cavalry fought in many of the biggest battles of the eastern theater. These vouchers were submitted early in the war, but the officers and their servants had already been at Ball's Bluffs and other battles; the Battle of Winchester was weeks away.