RARE – Civil War Bugle, recovered at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas

This is one of those items you rarely see and are able to purchase. Being offered is an excavated Civil War brass bugle. When recovered it was in a flattened condition and in several pieces. The mouth piece wasn’t found with it, but I have included an original one for the display. It is in a glass top display case that measures 16” x 12” and has a professionally made description tag “Civil War Bugle/Horn / Battle of Helena, Arkansas / 1863”.

The Battle of Helena was fought on July 4, 1863, near Helena, Arkansas. Union troops captured the city in July 1862 and had been using it as a base of operations. Over 7,500 Confederate troops led by Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes attempted to capture Helena in hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the Confederate army besieged in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Helena was defended by about 4,100 Union troops led by Major General Benjamin Prentiss, manning one fort and four batteries of artillery.

Differing interpretations of Holmes' order to attack at daylight resulted in Brigadier General James F. Fagan's troops attacking Battery D unsupported, and Major General Sterling Price's attack against the Union center was made after Fagan's had largely fizzled out. To the north, Confederate cavalry commanded by Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and Lucius M. Walker failed to act in concert and accomplished little. The assaults failed, and Vicksburg fell the same day. Later in the year, Union troops used Helena as a staging ground for their successful campaign to capture Little Rock, Arkansas.

Actually, dug bugles that are mostly intact and recognizable are rare – usually only pieces are found. This is a great piece of Civil War history and was probably used in battle. Arkansas relics have always been desirable and in demand.