Civil War Battle Ring

[RockyDig]

I will soon be posting pics of a gold ring that a relative of mine owns. It is a gold ring with 16 battle names etched in it. The ring was featured in the North South Trader Civil War magazine in the mid 80's and then was voted Find of the Century by the subscribers around the year 2000. It has only been displayed at 2 or 3 relic shows. The last one was the Northern Virginia Relics Hunters show in Chantilly, VA in 2002. There were some great reactions by the public.

Anyway, I was excited for the chance to have photos taken of this and I will share them as soon as possible.

 

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[relicreb]

I am not a civil war expert by any means, but I have been hunting relics for about 30 years. I started hunting with my Grandfather when he was using an old Green Box Garret. All I can say about the ring is WOW.
Relicreb

 

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[cwe]

I feel for the boys who died in the CW ...it really makes
you think about the families and mothers and fathers that
lost their sons...then the husbands and bothers uncles ect.

I would so much like to get a group together to look in these
areas out of respect for these men. Like you said you start
to think about that person and wonder what was he like ..
so to speak it makes them a person again.

From what I read on here you all feel the same compassion for these
men.

cwe (patti)

 

[MalteseFalcon]

Needless to say this ring is a priceless piece of American History.

My 6-times great-grandfather lived in Southern Arkansas. He had 3 boys and some girls (not sure how many) I believe. 2 of his sons were killed outright during the Civil War....fighting for the South. The other son fought for the Union, was wounded seriously, and died 5 to 6 years later for reasons supposedly related to the wound.

Fortunately, my 5-times Great Grandfather (one of the two killed fighting for the South) had some children before he died, which eventually allowed me to be born.

I saw the movie Cold Mountain last year, and it messed with my head, as there were some relatives in my family back then who were killed by rogue soldiers who accused the men of collaberation with the Union, and hung them in the front yard of their house, leaving the wife and daughters to suffer. Good movie, but I never want to see it again, as it was too depressing.

Too much suffering happened during that war. My family unfortunately had to bear some of it as well.

 

[Digginman]

Find of the Century is right. I have been a Civil War Buff for many years, this is the most amazing piece of that time I have every seen.

 

[brnn53]

BobG, Fair Oaks was also called Seven Pines and that is where my G-father was killed. I live near Four Oaks and have contacts and wife's family that own land on or near Bentonville battleground. My G-father was from Ala. and his unit was the 6th Ala. Inf. Reg. a very famous unit. I just got into detecting though I always wanted to. I am going to do some serious hunting there this fall and winter. BTW... the battlefield for Seven Pines is now mostly covered by the Richmond airport. Bah!
Mike

 

[civilman1]

Just reading all these post's get's my blood going,awesome ring RD.Still got your number,I would love to see that in person.If you don't mind,pm me or call and hopefully we can set something up...One of a kind ,no doubt.Thank's for sharing....Joe

 

[pseudodragon]

I agree with Grizzly, you should try to find out which batallions were in those battles. You probably would only end up with a few that were in all of them (maybe even just one!). Then, if you got hold of a list of survivors from the first and last battles, you could narrow down the possible original owner to a very small number of men. I know it would take quite a while, but what a fascinating research it would be! Good luck to you whatever you decide.

Gary

 

[RockyDig]

That will be a fun chase. I just found the notes from the first guy who started the research. I'll try to keep you guys posted on my findings.

Keep Digging and HH!!!

 

[bomber]

words don't do justice,its awesome

 

[MalteseFalcon]

Any further research been done?

 

[RockyDig]

I just started the research, so far I have it down to the II or V Corps. I still have a long way to go but it's a start.

 

[rjnail]

what a great ring, tnks for show it

 

[maureen]

First I would like to say that it is a beautiful ring
I have only one question..what size is the ring.. that may help in finding the man who wore it..
Just a thought

M

 

[RockyDig]

I must agree, even having seen it, I still study the pictures of the ring. It is amazing to hold this ring in your hands. This piece of American history could do well in a museum in Washington DC. This is not just a ring, it is a monument to one man's sacrifices for his country. He may not have died but it also represents all the other men who paid the ultimate price to bring their country back together. It was not a glorious time for a relatively new nation but it laid the foundation for what we were to become. It put an end to the injustice that was slavery for human beings who were merely a different shade. I would love to see this ring displayed for all to see to remind them of their history. I could go on and on but I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for all the great comments!!!

P.S. The ring is size 11.

 

[maureen]

Rocky,
Do you think the ring size will help in finding out who the owner was?
based on ring size, maybe you can find out the size of the man...

M

 

[RockyDig]

I'm not sure the ring size would help unless it could be used to narrow it down if I could get a list of a couple guys. I'm getting some good info. The Battle of Hanover Court House is only battle that doesn't fit yet. I need to research the hell out of that one. This guy may have been in the brigade or company that assisted with Hanover but it not documented very well. So far it seems he was a part of the III Corps which merged into the V Corps. One good lead is that he was in Brig. Gen. Kearny's division - who was killed during the Battle of Chantilly. That would narrow it down to 15 regiments. I need to make my way to the library and get some good books on these battles. It's fun though!

 

[Postalrevnant]

Absolutely excellent find. One to be proud of indeed.

Congratulations,

Postalrevnant

 

[Skrimpy]

I just started the research, so far I have it down to the II or V Corps. I still have a long way to go but it's a start.

I don't mean to throw a wrench into your research but...lot's of the volunteer soldiers in the CW went on two tours throughout the war. They may have jumped regiments. My gg grandfather was in both the 120th NY Volunteers and the 73rd NY Volunteers, and we suspect that he was also in the 102nd Volunteers. Sorry. Now if it was one that belonged to a regular soldier I think it less likely the jumped regiments.

 

[Mainedigger]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...now that I have my speech back, I can;t come up with the proper adjective to do that ring justice!!!!!!!!! Truly the find of a lifetime and totally unique, that ring is magazine cover material...WTG!!!!!!!!!!!
Bill

 

[huggie]

You know I personally would like to see things like this in a national museum,lets face it
its a national treasure,just my opinion,as for a price,you could not put a price on something like that
its part of your heritage and history.absolutely fabulous find.