3048

EXTREMELY RARE & VERY FINE, IDENTIFIED

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:15,000.00 USD Estimated At:30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD
EXTREMELY RARE & VERY FINE, IDENTIFIED
CONFEDERATE SHELL JACKET OF HUNTER B. SWAGER, KENTUCKY CAVALRYMAN IN JOHN HUNT MORGANS COMMAND. Hunter B. Swager (1841-1873) entered service into Company H, 1st Kentucky Infantry & later served in additional units in Virginia & Kentucky throughout the war until captured w/ Morgan’s command in August of 1864. He stayed captive as a POW until his release from Camp Douglas, Illinois March of 1865. Swager’s brother, Charles Moore Swager (1842-1871), served in the 1st & 2nd Kentucky Infantry & was wounded multiple times, captured, escaped upon arrival at Camp Douglas, joined the Confederate Secret Service in Canada & participated in the famed St. Albans raid into Vermont. This jacket is not unique as an absolutely identical jacket is seen in an image of Kentuckian Thomas Bronston Collins of F Company, 11th Kentucky Cavalry (also under Morgans command) at the Kentucky Military History Museum & shown in provenance link. Jacket is extremely well made w/ buff cavalry trim & 18 battle beads (same as the Collins jacket) on both sleeves. The jacket is of high quality tailoring w/ well-padded silk blend lining, 9 button faced w/ antebellum 14mm imported buttons w/ applied fouled anchor. There is a unique scalloped cut pocket on left breast & again, identical to that pictured on the Collins coat. Body of coat is made from fine gray wool. Sleeves are lined w/ a soft tan woven linen. Classic Confederate shell jacket w/ 9" bulbous elbows & 5" cuffs, 32" waist which no doubt fit the 5'7" cavalryman quite well. Rarely are Confederate enlisted uniforms found in such remarkable condition & family provenance. A fragment of a tag found in pocket reads “HUNTERS REBEL / COAT HE WORE IN MORGAN COMMAND FOR...”. Unattached accessories: a sm. file of research accompanies this lot. CONDITION: museum quality, fine overall, well above average & in the top few percent of all surviving identified Civil War textiles. Jacket is original & complete, missing 2 buttons, all 36 battle beads intact. Exterior of coat has 3 very sm. (2-3mm) insect holes, light areas of soiling. Buff trim has faded. Linings are complete w/ only minor separation in one sleeve. Cloth covered button for closure of pocket has been re-sewn. (02-14728/JS). $30,000-40,000.