Can anyone read the rest of this? American Civil War walking stick

It looks like hickory, with a spot smoothed out and written on in black ink. This came from that rummage sale that kept on giving. There's a date on here that looks like June 1, 1862, but whether that was the date of the battle or the date of the gift I'm not sure. There's also something about 15,000 soldiers, so I suspect it's the date of the gift. I'm trying to figure out where this came from, and on which side. It'll probably end up as a friend's Christmas present.

 

I think I see the word "Battle fields" so the 15,000 could be referencing more than a single battle; however:
June 1 1862 was the date of the Battle of Seven Pines, which started on May 31st; and I think I see "31st" on there also. The casualties in that battle were close to 15,000 (https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/seven-pines) Could this have been cut near the site of that battle, on the centennial, in 1962?

Other possible words I can make out: "Cut...the centennial...Pines Battle fields where 15,000 soldiers were killed...(between?)...31st + June 1st 1862"
Don't know if this helps:

 

It's possible, but I'd half dismissed the idea, since the 15000 was casualties for both sides. I don't think a soldier would have included the "enemy" in a count of injuries, and the total is wrong for the number of soldiers involved unless it was just his regiment.

 

Good thinking, Steve! The number 7 is at the end of the first line with the second line starting with Pines!

 

Oho.... I couldn't read that bit. It would be cool if we knew whodunnit or who gave it to whom.

 

Yes; that's one of the things that makes me think it might likely date to the centennial, in 1962, rather than to the time of the actual battle, in 1862. At the time of the Civil War, I agree the focus would probably have been on one's own side; but in 1962, as now, the focus might well have been that the total number of soldiers killed was close to 15,000. I wish it were possible to make out more words; it is an interesting artifact, whatever the date it was cut.

 

here's a comparable: the description is clearly not the same stick, but one with secondary flexible branches coiled around the central shaft. However, the listing dates it to the 1880s, and the transcription of the words is very interesting, and might shed some light on this item - it even includes the use of the numeral 7 rather than the word "seven": "Cut in the center of 7 Pines Battlefield where 15000 Soldiers were Killed May 31st + June 1st 1862. Battle fought by Lee + McClellan / J.E. Lyne, Guide"
Center, not Centennial, for sure.
James Lyne was a survivor of the battle, and ran a souvenir shop at the site for 35 years; so the cane would date to no earlier than 1897. I bet he made quite a few of these from branches at the site, and you've got one!
See http://shootmagazine.com/wildwest/1...ADE-By-CONFEDERATE-SOLDIER_r481466994102.html

 

And another one, with the wording a little clearer:
https://uniondb.com/products/civil-...elic-cane-mae-by-confederate-captain-j-e-lyne

 

Some more info at http://thepastwhispers.com/Battle_of_Seven_Pines_photos.html
and a photo-postcard of Lyne:

 

I don't know how you found that, but that's it! It's definitely a friend's Christmas gift now. He's a church pastor who's interested in American history, and that inscription is all about reconcilliation. That second site has a crazy price on the cane, if the guy made as many as I'd think he did, but I only paid two bucks. Better yet, I found a second hickory cane at the same sale that's headed to another friend, it's unmarked, but I bet it's the same guy. Price on that one? about 50 cents! It was part of a bag sale.

It turns out that a church member who died with no children had collected all sorts of stuff, and donated it to the rummage sale. I also ended up with a souvenir mug from the 1904 World's Fair, also a Christmas gift.

 

Yikes, $2 for an authentic piece of pre-1900 Americana, amazing!
I simply googled "Pines battle cane" or some such; a long shot, but there it was. Quite a famous battle, there's a lot of info on the battle itself online, not so much on Mr. Lyne, who must have been quite well-known at the time.

 

And here's what I could pull up clearer off of the cane.....there's definitely something on the left END that I could not quite see.....maybe you can!! And maybe you already have all the information off it!! NICE FIND!!!!!

EDIT: Just noticed the second image was turned a bit....hope it helps!! I think you can see "Guide....J.E. Lynne" as well!!! I'd save the article to give them as well....nice provenance!!!

 

It was one heckuva surprise. I've already mentioned it to another friend, so now it's definitely a Christmas present for someone local.

 

James Edward Lyne is my G-g-grandfather (1848-1930). He made a lot of these canes because he cut them from his backyard - which was on the Seven Pines Battlefield so he wasn't exactly lying about that. And he probably sold them for $2 at the time. They sell for $500-800 now and I've been trying to get one for years. In fact I bid on another one this morning. He would be absolutely tickled that people pay so much for them because he was such a con man.

The dates, numbers and sometimes generals names ARE wrong - he made these for several other battles as well and he just made things up. He never served during the Civil War - he was 13 when the war started, his stepfather, Andrew Dornauf, died in 1862 leaving him with his mother and 2 half-sisters aged 2 months and 1 year to support. Every time he ran away to join the Confederate army (and lie about his age) his mother would drag him home again. So he may have managed to get enlisted but he never made it to a battlefield until well after the war was over. His fixation with joining the Confederates is interesting because if my genealogy research is correct his grandfather and g-grandmother were mulatto slaves freed in 1804.

Depending on the visitors to the battlefield he would claim to be both Union and Confederate. In the mornings he would go out with a musket and shoot Minni balls into the trees around the battlefield, then give tours later telling people, "If you know where to look you can still find bullets out here," pull out his pocket knife, dig out the Minni balls he'd put there that morning and give it to them as a souvenir. He also had a big rock that propped the door of his curio shop open that he would tell people was the rock John Smith got his head bashed in on.

He was part of the group responsible for relocating the bodies from the battlefield to a local cemetery and it appears that most of the items in his shop were taken from dead Union soldiers - he apparently insured that the Confederates were interred with their belonging intact. He was in the Richmond jail briefly in 1910, and I need to see if the Library of Virginia has the jail records because I wonder if it was for grave robbing.

He was con artist and a teller of tall tales and good at making money off of gullible people. But he figured out a way to keep his family fed after the war and seems to have been a huge personality. His mother and wife were both strong women who owned their own businesses and his daughter, Charlotte, married a con man just like him.

 

Wow, very interesting Sarah Montgomery! Thanks for sharing that with us. Your G-g-grandfather was quite the character!

 

There are times when this site will surprise you....

Thank you Sarah , for letting us in to your family history.....

 

@evelyb30 ..... did you gift it , like you said ?

 

It's still here - it's not Christmas yet. I love that information. If @Sarah Montgomery doesn't win the other one I'd be willing to sell this one if I could figure out how to ship it!

 

Fascinating stories!

 

(I love this thread. That is all.)