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| (Civil War Picket and courtesy of the Columbus Museum, Ga.) |
We don’t know his name, or even whether he survived his
ordeal. Yet a Federal POW’s handiwork lives on through three incredibly
detailed smoking pipes he apparently carved while at Andersonville.
All are believed to have been fashioned from laurel root
and have similar motifs, with a few variations. The name of the intended
recipient rings a five-point star and two have an American shield. On the side
are the words “Sumter prison” and “Andersonville, Ga.”
Cowan’s Auctions sold the three during a February 2017
sale involving the vast collection of the late E. Norman Flayderman, an author
and antiques arms dealer. He bought the first pipe in the early 1950s and the
last in 2001. Records indicate there may be a fourth pipe in the same style.
One pipe bears the name Henry Wirz, the infamous
stockade commander at Andersonville (more on that later).
I didn’t know any of this when I recently sauntered into
the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Ga. It had been a couple years since my last
visit and I wanted to review the Civil War portion of a history of the
Chattahoochee Valley.
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| (Courtesy of the Columbus Museum, Georgia) |
I spied the pipe mounted in a small case on a wall with
two other Andersonville-related items: An early 1880s albumen reprint of one of
A.J. Riddle’s famous photographs of the stockade and prisoners taken in summer
1864, and a circa 1885 lithograph of former prisoner Thomas O’Dea’s drawing depicting
the horrors of life in the Confederate prison.
Rebecca Bush, curator of history and exhibitions manager
at the Columbus Museum, said the Andersonville exhibit opened in late 2017
after the roughly $4,000 purchase of the pipe. Columbus is about an hour’s
drive from Andersonville National Historic Site.
“It is one of the best-known place names of the Civil War
outside a battle. It felt like a missed opportunity for us not to engage with that story,” said Bush.
Cowan’s and the museum describe the pipe as folk art. Beyond
the mystery of who created it, there’s another. Who is the J. Vandegrift of
Philadelphia etched into the front of the pipe?
Here is a portion of Cowan’s description of the piece:
“There
are two possible identifications for J. Vandegrift. The first, John P.
Vandegrift, enlisted in the army as a private on March 4, 1864, and
mustered into the 3rd Pennsylvania Artillery, Co. E. Under the command of
Captain Hazzard, the company served with the Army of the James before
Petersburg, being stationed at Bermuda Hundred, and was posted at Fort
Converse, covering the pontoon bridge across the Appomattox. There is no
record of Vandegrift's imprisonment, but many men in his regiment were
captured and sent to Andersonville. Records state that he mustered out of the
army at Fortress Monroe on November 9, 1865. The second could be John Miller
Vandegrift, the father of Union soldier Thomas Hart Benton Vandegrift. John
Miller Vandegrift was from Philadelphia, and Thomas was born in the city.
Thomas Vandegrift was captured on June 10, 1864, and survived Andersonville. He
was a corporal of Company C, 9th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.”
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| (Courtesy of the Columbus Museum, Georgia) |
I found a webpage about Thomas Hart Benton Vandegrift
that says he was born in Philadelphia in 1840 and enlisted in August 1862.
It includes this amusing story: “Tom’s
company got down to Tennessee & one day they were going south when they saw
a nice apple orchard in a yard. They stopped to pick apples but the woman who
owned the farm said, “When you come back you won’t have time to pick apples”.
Tom said she was right as they were on the run then. In 1864 they were on a
southern road & when they came to a fork in the road they took the wrong
one & were captured.”
Bush said she regularly checks with Cowan’s Auctions and
other sites for items that might further the museum’s interpretation of places
and events.
“Especially once we acquired the O’Dea lithograph (in
2015), I identified the last piece I wanted to interpret Andersonville was a
piece of POW folk art … It is definitely quite striking and I think that’s
something we liked about it.”
She said the pipe combines patriotism and has a
souvenir feel, “which is weird to think of in these unusual circumstances.”
A display card near the item says: "Facing harsh
conditions and relentless boredom, prisoners of war have often used their
creativity and available materials to create artistic objects."
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| (Courtesy of the Columbus Museum, Georgia) |
The exhibit doesn’t have space to describe the mysteries
regarding the piece, including how the wood and silver bowl cover and mounts
were acquired in the prison.
“Sometimes there are historical mysteries and unless
other information pops up, this seems destined to remain a mystery,” Bush said.
Two other pipes were sold at the auction. One has the name Albert A. Walker.
Cowan’s note: “Albert
A. Walker enlisted as a private on August 24, 1862, and mustered into the 16th
Connecticut Infantry, Co. F. He fought at the battle of Antietam and
Fredericksburg. Eventually, he was promoted to commanding sergeant of Co. F on
May 9, 1863. He was listed as a POW on March 20, 1864, at Plymouth, NC,
and was most likely sent to Andersonville, remaining there until he was paroled
on November 30, 1864.”
The third pipe – with the Wirz name -- fetched the
highest price: About $10,000.
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| Henry Wirz |
The online catalog notes: “The pipe is accompanied by
a typed tag that states, Presented
by Captain Wirz, commanding Andersonville Prison, to E.W. Masterson, 4th
OVC, Mr. Masterson being with the ____ sent to arrest Wirz.”
Masterson’s unit was stationed in Macon, Ga., at the time Wirz was in
custody, “which leads us to the conclusion that Masterson may have
been part of one of Wirz's guard details and acquired the pipe while
on guard duty,” the auction company wrote.
Wirz was hanged in November 1865 after his convictions of conspiracy and
murder of prisoners.
That conviction remains controversial to today.
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