An outstanding collection of personal possessions of Private Samuel Creese, a member of the Company ‘F,’ 2nd Independent Pennsylvania Light Artillery, commonly known as Hampton’s Battery. The highlight of the collection is Creese’s battle-worn Schuylkill Arsenal artilleryman’s shell jacket worn at Gettysburg, one of very few known specimens. The jacket exhibits all hand-sewn construction and is made of a fine, heavy wool jean material dyed a deep indigo blue. It is stamped in the upper sleeve area in black, “2 S. A.,” indicating the size and Schuylkill Arsenal manufacture. The front retains eleven of its twelve original brass eagle ‘shield’ buttons with original stitching intact. The shell features a standup collar decorated with four horizontal rows of wide artillery red worsted herringbone piping. Cuff-size buttons adorn each side of the collar to punctuate the rows of red braid. This attractive red braid decorates the entire border along the edge of the collar, down the front, and along the bottom edge. The cuffs are similarly adorned with red piping in a chevron shape and bear additional ‘shield’ buttons. Both shoulders retain all the original brass shoulder scale attachments sewn to the blue cloth. The interior of the jacket is lined with the original red-and-green plaid wool lining. The jacket is in very good condition, with larger moth holes to the piping on the collar closure area, small eraser-size moth holes throughout the body and sleeves, and various areas of the red piping worn through, and the plaid wool lining especially strong. The overall collection rates in very good to fine condition; the leather scabbard is worn at the tip.
Also included in the collection are three impressively large, professionally framed displays of items from Creese, each measuring approximately 30 x 30, including his original enlistment and discharge papers, photographs, ribbons, medals, a belt buckle, canister, buttons, currency, smoking pipe, brass artillery insignia, wooden matches, ivory notepad, and a postwar tintype of Creese and his son. Other notable artifacts include Creese’s G. A. R. sword with scabbard and leather belt, a pair of brass shoulder scales, and Creese’s 1890s-style straw hat. All of these items were found in the attic of the Creese family home in Union City, Pennsylvania. As an extensive, oversized collection, extra shipping charges will apply: please contact us for more details.
This Gettysburg-worn shell jacket belonging to Samuel Creese had been the subject of several articles: it is discussed and pictured in the reference book Union Army Uniforms at Gettysburg by Michael J. Winey, and the entire Creese collection is described and pictured in a 1992 issue of North South Trader’s Civil War. Both of these publications are included. In addition to Gettysburg, Creese and Company ‘F’ saw action at the important battles of Antietam and Chancellorsville; although they suffered few losses, their commander Robert B. Hampton was killed at Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg they experienced just one member killed and seven wounded despite seeing heavy action on the last day of fighting. Only a handful of such well-documented Gettysburg jackets are known, with this example improved by its extensive archive of supplementary material belonging to the associated soldier. Provenance: The Horse Soldier.
