Civil War officers shoulder board recovered at Chancellorsville by Dean Thomas

This is another nice piece being offered, it is an excavated Civil War officer’s shoulder strap, measuring 3 ½” x 1 ¼”.  It was dug by the late well-known author, historian, and relic hunter Dean Thomas. He dug this relic off of McLaws-Miles Drive on the Chancellorsville, Virginia Battlefield in the 1970s (see pictures).

This area is where for three days Confederate skirmishers of General Lafayette McLaws’ division sparred with elements of Joseph Hooker’s Union army. McLaws’ spirited attacks fixed Hooker’s attention on this sector, enabling “Stonewall” Jackson to successfully maneuver around the Union army’s right flank, four miles ahead.

This is a Smith-Patent strap which utilized stamped brass imitation embroidery borders with stamped brass rank device on a cloth field (color depending on branch of service). Being underground for so long, only the brass remains.  Since they are made of metal, but worn on the shoulders, they have a convex plane when viewed from the side, i.e. they are curved to fit the shoulder.

This is an amazing relic for being dug, it even has the original curve to it. Shoulder board came directly from Dean Thomas’ collection. This is a great piece for any collection and can even be appreciated more coming from Dean’s personal collection. It has Dean’s original tag and comes in the glass top display case.