Spike Candle Holder

Spike Candle Holder recovered from a CS site. Click picture for details. (SOLD)

Civil War soldiers iron “Spike Candle Holder”. It is measures approximately 1 ¼” x 2” and still has the iron spike remaining, although it is bent. These handy candle holders were sold by camp sutlers; they were small and convenient….all you had to do was stick it in the dirt or a piece of wood. Some soldiers would bend the spike, as this one is, to stick in a tree or other vertical piece. There are examples of this item in all of the relic books as well as The Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum. 

This unique piece was recovered on private property by the late Sam White at Fort Harrison, Virginia. It was the strongest Confederate Fort on the Richmond-Petersburg line. Fort Harrison consisted of a semi-circle of earthen works facing the Union lines. On September 29, 1864, 2,500 Union forces over ran and captured the fort. The next day Lee personally organized a major effort to retake the fort, but failed. When the Union forces took it over they built earthen works facing the opposite direction, thus completing a circle. They also renamed Fort Harrison to Fort Burnham, after the Union General killed in the September 29 attack. This candle holder is very solid and has been coated with a varnish for preservation. (SOLD)