Bashein Gives Artifacts To Gettysburg

Originally published March 2016 · p. 12

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Craig Bashein, a Cleveland, Ohio, attorney and Civil War collector, donated a substantial part of his collection to the Gettysburg Foundation, on whose board of directors he sits. The donated artifacts include: • The dress uniform, ornate leather boots, gold spurs, pistol and Tiffany presentation sword of Brig. Gen. Hobart Ward, a 3rd Corps brigade and division commander at Gettysburg. • A Model 1851 Colt Navy Revolver that Col. Samuel Colt presented to Alexander Webb. It adds to the Webb collection that Bashein previously donated to Gettysburg National Military Park. Webb, who commanded the Philadelphia Brigade at Gettysburg and defended the Angle during Pickett’s Charge, received the Medal of Honor for his valor. • The bullet-struck Model 1850 foot officer’s sword of Col. Orlando Smith of the 73rd Ohio Infantry. Carried at Gettysburg, the sword was struck by a bullet at the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Bashein said Smith considered it his “lucky sword” and carried it throughout the war. - Diaries belonging to Samuel A. Fisher of the 14th Vermont Infantry who was wounded at Gettysburg. • The hand-drawn map of Rappahannock River Crossings made and signed by Gen. John F. Reynolds in the early part of the Gettysburg Campaign. He was killed the first day of the Gettysburg battle. • Documents from Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren to Gen. Daniel Butterfield, who was Gen. George G. Meade’s Chief of Staff, relative to operations in the Gettysburg Campaign. • Dozens of documents pertaining to the Gettysburg battle and campaign, written by soldiers and civilians on both sides including soldiers from the 26th and 54th North Carolina; 16th Georgia; 20th Maine; 140th New York; 12th, 16th and 19th Massachusetts; 14th Vermont; and 114th Pennsylvania. • A 43-page letter from E.J. Allen with details about the fortification around Richmond. Allen was the pen name of Allan J. Pinkerton, first head of the United States Secret Service. • The lead bullet Dr. Alfred Hamilton of the 148th Pennsylvania Infantry removed from mortally wounded C.S. Gen. William Barksdale at Gettysburg’s

Hummelbaugh House field hospital, along with the surgical instruments and diary. • The original Mort Kunstler oil painting “The Grandest Charge Ever Seen By Mortal Man” depicting Barksdale’s charge on July 2, 1863. Bashein said the collection provides a unique and historically important window into the Civil War. “It’s important that these items are available to the public; whether it’s historical documents made accessible to researchers and historians, or three-dimensional artifacts which can be viewed at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center,” he said. “My goal is to ensure that these historically important objects are preserved and well cared for in perpetuity for the American people. There is no organization better suited to care for and display these artifacts than the Gettysburg Foundation in partnership with Gettysburg National Military Park.”