CS Marked Raking Spurs
By Shannon Pritchard · Originally published April 2019 · p. 9
The original pair of brass raking spurs featured here are, to the trained eye, easily recognized as Confederate. The raking style spur (rowels sideways) is a distinctly Confederate military design. It allowed the rider to roll the rowels against the horses’ flanks rather than just giving a poke. I have often read of battlefield courier’s horses’ flanks being bloodied and torn by the rider’s spurs, and though the writer never mentioned the type of spur that did the damage, I think it very likely that it was done by severe application of the raking spur. This particular pair of spurs is one of the rarest of all Confederate spurs; so rare in fact, that to my knowledge, another matched pair does not exist. The only published examples are excavated specimens. The existence of this non excavated pair allows us to see that the previously held opinion that the CS was cast into the spur is incorrect; the letters are actually stamped, but this could not be discerned when examining excavated examples. In hindsight, we should have recognized that the varied spacing gave proof that the CS was not part of the molding process. This pair of spurs uses two 1860, New Orleans mint quarters as rowels. The spurs did not come from the manufacturer this way; perhaps the owner changed them out to go easy on his steed. Regardless of why, it is apparent that they have been this way for a long, long time. The leather keepers are original. Shannon Pritchard has authored numerous articles relating to the authentication, care and conservation of Confederate antiques, including several cover articles and is the author of the definitive work on Confederate collectibles, the widely acclaimed Collecting the Confederacy, Artifacts and Antiques from the War Between the States, and is co-author of Confederate Faces in Color.
