HEAVILY USED 1861 CONFEDERATE PRINTING OF GILHAM’S MANUAL WITH POSSIBLE FLAG FRAGMENTS

$650.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1152-79

Shipping: Determined by Method & Location of buyer

To Order:
Call 717-334-0347,
Fax 717-334-5016, or E-mail

The title page of this thick volume reads “MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION FOR THE VOLUNTEERS AND MILITIA OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES” by William Gilham, Colonel of volunteers, instructor of tactics, and Commandant of Cadets, Virginia Military Institute. Published by West & Johnston of Richmond, Virginia in 1861.

The volume is hardbound in brown cloth with gold embossed covers and spine. The covers show a mounted officer by a cannon pointing forward with his sword followed by another soldier on horseback. The spine has been reinforced with brown colored modern library binding tape with the artwork of the original spine glued to the face of the tape. The gold gilt stamping on all the cover decoration and spine have faded considerably. The covers also have moderate to heavy surface dirt and wear but are otherwise good.

The volume meas. approx. 5.00 x 7.25 inches and runs 559 pages with an additional 24-page glossary in the front matter. There are no diagrams or drawings except for several foldout plates towards the back. The interior is mostly clean with light scattered foxing.

Both the front and back signatures are good. Inside front cover has the remains of a removed bookplate with a badly faded ID above it that cannot be made out. The upper right corner of the preface page was used to trace a seated liberty coin and the first page of the Articles of War have a heavy period ink ID with a last name that is unreadable. Back endpapers have heavy period ink blots with a dried leaf stuck inside. Also, one of the endpapers was used to trace a spread-winged eagle off of a period coin.  This is a readable copy but should still be handled with care.

Tucked inside the book is a piece of Mylar containing pieces of red and white cotton cloth. The white cotton rectangle meas. approx. 3.00 x 1.50 inches while the red piece is more square meas. approx. 1.00 x 2.00 inches. There is no information to tell us what these pieces of cloth are but they look very reminiscent of other clipped portions of flags that we have seen.

The author of the manual, William Henry Gilham, was born in Vincennes, Indiana on January 13, 1818. His father's family came from Virginia. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point where he graduated 5th in the Class of 1840.

He became a Lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery and fought in the Seminole War in Florida. From September 1841 to August 1844, he was Assistant Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at the U.S. Military Academy. He served in the Mexican War in 1846.

In 1846, he became a professor at Virginia Military Institute, then a recently founded state military college in Lexington, Virginia. During the next five years, he developed VMI's departments of Chemistry and Agriculture, taught infantry tactics and served as the Commandant of Cadets.

Major Gilham taught at VMI for the rest of the decade. In November 1859, at the request of the Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise, Major Gilham led a contingent of VMI Cadets to Charles Town to provide an additional military presence for the execution by hanging of abolitionist John Brown on December 2, 1859. Brown had been convicted of treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia and of multiple murder charges in connection with his raid on the US Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry the previous October.

In response to the raid on Harper's Ferry, Governor Wise ordered Gilham to write a manual to train volunteers and militia. It was finished in the fall of 1860 and published the following year.

In 1861 Gilham was promoted to Colonel in the Confederate Army and became the Commandant of Camp Lee, at Richmond, Virginia which became a camp of instruction. Gilham no doubt used his manual to train the men sent there.

Colonel Gilham briefly commanded a brigade in the field in 1861 and 1862, but returned to teaching at VMI. On May 15, 1864, the VMI cadets participated in the Battle of New Market. Gilham was present, but did not command the young troops during the battle. After Union troops raided Lexington, and burned buildings at VMI, the cadets were stationed at Richmond for the remainder of the War.

After the war VMI had no money to pay its instructors. Gilham went to work in Richmond for the Southern Fertilizer Company, which occupied the former Confederate Libby Prison facility near Richmond's Tobacco Row.

William Gilham died in Vermont on November 16, 1872, aged 54, of undisclosed causes. He was interred at Lexington, Virginia's Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery.  [AD] [ph:L]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!

Inquire »

Inquire About HEAVILY USED 1861 CONFEDERATE PRINTING OF GILHAM’S MANUAL WITH POSSIBLE FLAG FRAGMENTS

For inquiries, please email us at [email protected]

featured item

EXCEEDINGLY RARE CIVIL WAR US CAVALRY TROUSERS

This is a wonderful pair of regulation Civil War US issue enlisted cavalryman’s trousers that are incredibly rare and in great condition. They are made of sky-blue kersey with waistband and pockets in place inside, and have the key addition of a… (2024-1285). Learn More »

Upcoming Events

21
Dec

Learn More »

Instagram