This knapsack came out of an old New York collection we handled about 25 years ago. It is a standard issue tarred canvas Union army knapsack and comes with an old tag reading: “Civil War knapsack carried by Emanuel S. Eversole, Co. B, 17^th Ohio Volunteers. (Regimental commander was Gen. John Logan.)” The knapsack is the double-bag, soft-pack style (sometimes issued with wooden slats to fashion an interior box frame that usually ended up on a campfire) and is in good condition with the shoulder straps, waistbelt support straps, and fastening straps in place, though showing some crackling and loss of finish from flexing. The interior closing straps and buckles for the box portion of the pack are present one of the two pairs of rawhide thongs used to close the pocket section of the pack is there; the other pair is missing. Overall the pack displays well though the tarred canvas shows the usual small tears and wear spots at folds and creases and could benefit from some TLC. No effort was made to patch or repair anything by the collector though he padded it out with old newspaper for display and we have left it untouched. Please see our photos.

Eversole, born in 1842, had grown up and worked on the family farm in Bern, Ohio, and was 21 years-old when he enlisted in 1864, mustering into Co. B of the 17^th Ohio as a private on Jan. 30, 1864, in time for the Atlanta Campaign, March to the Sea, and Campaign of the Carolinas. The regiment had organized in April 1861 for three years’ service and had already seen action at Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga and elsewhere by the time Eversole joined it when they were reorganizing as a veteran regiment in the 14^th Army Corps. The regiment is credited with the following service while Eversole was on the rolls:

Reconnaissance to Dalton, Ga., February 22–27, 1864. Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge February 23–25. Atlanta Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8–11. Battle of Resaca May 14–15. Advance on Dallas May 18–25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Mountain June 11–14. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground, July 4. Chattahoochee River July 5–17. Peachtree Creek July 19–20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5–7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Operations against Hood in northern Georgia and northern Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10–21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April 1865. Fayetteville, N. C., March 11. Battle of Bentonville March 19–21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10–14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D. C, via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review of the Armies, May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June, and duty there until July, when Eversole mustered out with the regiment on July 16. The regiment lost a total of 232 men during its service; 6 officers and 71 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 1 officer and 154 enlisted men died of disease. This does not include scores of wounded who recovered to some degree.

After the war Eversole returned home, married in 1869, and by 1880 had moved with his wife and four children to Ridgeland, Iroquois County, Illinois, where he had a farm, and died there in 1917. We note the tag is mistaken on the regimental commander having been Gen. John A. Logan. Logan did command an Ohio regiment at the beginning of the war, but it was the 31^st Ohio, and the 17^th does not seem to have been in his command later, but it is not uncommon for family histories to get details wrong and ancestors sometimes get drawn into the orbit of famous figures.  [sr] [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!