Civil War Identification Kit belonging to a Rhode Island Cavalryman (SOLD)

This is a rare piece being offered, it is a Civil War Identification Kit belonging to a Rhode Island soldier. It is a complete set with the brass stencil, stencil brush, ink bottle, original printed kit directions sheet, and the two-piece tin container. This kit belonged to A. M. Osgood, Company B, 7th Rhode Island Cavalry. He was 24 years old when he enlisted on June 24, 2862 as a Farrier.

The regiment entered service as the “Dartmouth Cavalry”, and although they were only a three - month unit, they served in defense of Harpers Ferry, WV from September 13th through the 15^th, 1862, just prior to the Battle of Antietam and the renowned Surrender of Harpers Ferry.

The cavalry assigned to Harpers Ferry was an amalgam of six commands: the 1st Maryland Potomac Home Brigade Cavalry, the Loudoun Virginia Rangers, the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry, 1st Maryland Cavalry, the 12th Illinois Cavalry, and the 8th New York Cavalry.

They realized that if they were captured, the Confederates would acquire 1,600 desperately needed cavalry mounts. In addition, the lightly armed troopers, many of whom lacked even carbines, would be of little use defending the garrison. It was decided that the Cavalry would attempt an escape to avoid capture.

Major Augustus W. Corliss of the 7th Rhode Island assured his men that the “next morning they would either be in Pennsylvania, or in Hell, or on the way to Richmond,” probably a reference to Libby Prison located there.

An area of their escape route would have them passing through Antietam. Captain William Nichols of the 7th Rhode Island remembers Sharpsburg in an 1889 article, he recalled the column “halted a while in its quiet streets” and that when they were through the town and on the Hagerstown Turnpike, “suddenly a sheet of flame burnt before us, followed by the deadening report of many rifles … showing conclusively that the Rebels were in large force at that point.”

As they continued, they just happened to stumble upon a part of Major General James Longstreet’s reserve ordnance train at the intersection of the Williamsport Road and the Downsville Pike. They outnumbered the Confederate force and were able to capture the unsuspecting rebels. The number of wagons reported captured varies from 40 to over 100 and the number of prisoners taken ranges from 50 to 500. They arrived in Greencastle, Pennsylvania on the morning of September 15, in a greatly exhausted condition, but without the loss of a man or a beast on the retreat.

Like I said, this is a very rare identified piece of Civil War history. Young Osgood experienced more in three months then some soldiers experienced in three years. The kit is complete, the first I ever came across, and remains in very nice condition – museum quality.