IDENTIFIED CONFEDERATE CAPTAIN’S FROCK COAT OF CAPT. ANDREW J. EHEART, 13th VIRGINIA INFANTRY, TWICE WOUNDED, KILLED AT SPOTTSYLVANIA

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This regulation Confederate Captain’s frock coat was worn by Capt. Andrew Jackson Eheart Company F, 13th Virginia, twice wounded in action in 1862 and killed in action at Spottsylvania in 1864. The coat is Confederate regulation, in very good condition and bears a period brown ink inscription in the left sleeve lining: “1st Lt. A. J. E. Hart, 13th VA Regt.” This is likely a tailor’s identification since it mistakes the first letter of his last name as a middle initial, and shows he had the coat altered at his election and promotion to Captain in April 1862.  The coat is also identified and fully documented with accompanying affidavits of provenance, ownership and transfer, as well as a professional 2021 conservation report by Royal Conservation and Exhibition, associated with the Varnum Memorial Armory Museum of Rhode Island. We also include Capt. Eheart’s service data and a photocopy of a portrait of him in uniform.

The coat constructed of wool, gray with French light blue tones, full-length skirts, sleeves with a generous and fashionable 9-inch billow at the elbow, tall 1-3/4 inch standing collar and 1-5/8 inch pointed cuffs, with the collar and cuffs faced with contrasting logwood-dyed material that was certainly blue originally, but has shifted to a medium brown. The coat is double breasted, with seven buttons and buttonholes on either side. 12 of 14 buttons remain, the top and bottom buttons on the wearer’s left side are missing. The top button on the wearer’s right is a replacement, differing slightly in color and in backmark. These are all Virginia state seals. Those original to the coat are backmarked by Horstmann and the replacement is by Scovill. Two of the buttons on the tails are still there, both on the wearer’s left, at the rear waist and at the lower edge of the tail pocket flap. Most show signs of resewing, but what would be the 4th and 5th button on the wearer’s left lapel seem to have the original thread. The non-functional cuffs were fitted with three small, US general service eagle buttons. The top one is missing on the wearer’s right cuff. The others are in place. With the exception of the replaced button, all have a matching, even, aged patina.

The sleeves each have two rows of 1/8-inch gold braid arranged in “Austrian knots” or “galloons” in the regulation Confederate sleeve insignia for Captain. These follow the line of the pointed cuff, about 1/8-inch above it, with the loops ending 11-inches above the cuff point. These are matched by the three strips of ¼-inch gold braid on either side of the slanted collar at front, also indicating the rank of Captain, which extend from the front edge of the collar to just shy of the center or the shoulder, the top stripe being 3-inches long and others proportionally longer. Below them, at the base of the collar on the center line of the shoulder on either side are short loops of brown twill tape that would have anchored epaulets when the officer chose to wear them. The lapels have a very narrow cording matching the color and cuffs, indicating it also showed an infantry blue. This appears also along the edges of the tail pocket flaps, and along the outer flap of the center vent.

The interior of upper chest is padded and the body and skirts are fully lined with a wool and cotton blend material using a green weft and brown warp. Interestingly, the one chest pocket inside is in the wearer’s right breast. We also note the opening is piped with the same cording used on the lapels, etc., but preserves more of its blue color. The sleeves are lined in the white, as are the tail pockets, which open on to the outside. The pocket linings are intact.

Conservation mostly involved redoing some old repairs, like restitching some of the resewn buttons, stabilizing some holes and filling in losses with matching fabric, etc. Most of these were small, scattered moth bites, with some larger holes along the interior and exterior back of neck, a common spot for sweat and insect damage, which have been redone, stabilized and backed, as was a spot a couple of inches along the forward seam of the left arm just above the cuff where on old repair was corrected. The coat is solid, looks great, and is very displayable. Needless to say, see our photographs and we will provide copies of the conservation report to interested parties.

Affidavits with the coat indicate it was retained by direct descendants- Eheart’s daughter and two granddaughters, until the younger, born in 1895, donated it along with a sash to a Virginia museum as an absolute and unconditional gift 1985. The museum retained the coat and sash until late 1994 when they were deaccessioned by exchange and passed to a private collector.

Andrew Jackson Eheart was born May 3, 1835, Albemarle, Va, but is picked up in the 1850 census in Orange County at age 14 living with his father, a tavern keeper, mother and a brother. A secondary sources says he attended Barboursville Academy. On Feb. 18, 1858, he married Pamelia Ellen Harrison (born Dec. 3, 1839) of Madison County. They had a son, Lewis A.  Eheart, born Dec. 21, 1858, in Madison County, where perhaps she had returned to give birth. In the 1860 census they are living in Barboursville, Orange County, where he is a farmer, apparently well-off, with a personal estate worth $9,170 and eight slaves. Some sources indicate they had a second son, James, in 1859, who apparently died as an infant, but they certainly had a daughter Annie B. Eheart, born July 22, 1860, apparently born also in Madison County, like her brother.

Eheart was First Lieutenant of the “Barboursville Guards” under Capt. W.S. Parran when the war started, a company apparently formed in 1859, likely in the wake of the John Brown raid. He enrolled for active service on April 17, 1861, at age 25 as 1st Lieutenant of the company, which became Co. F of the 13th Virginia, which was officially organized on May 9 and he was mustered into state service with the regiment on May 22 at Harpers Ferry.

The regiment saw some campaigning and one fight before being officially mustered and accepted for Confederate service, having been posted at Harper Ferry until June 13, doing guard and picket duty along the Potomac, then moving to Winchester and taking part in the occupation of Romney. Two companies took part in a skirmish at “Twenty-first Bridge” June 19 and regiment soon after was ordered to Neal’s Dam and then back to Winchester, where they were formally mustered in for one year on June 30 and accepted for Confederate  service as of July 1. They then took part in the advance on Darkesville, the subsequent withdrawal to Winchester, and were ordered to Manassas on July 18.

They reached Manassas only on the day of the battle, having been delayed at Piedmont Station and ended up detailed to guard fords along Bull Run on the right flank and were not engaged. They did, however, take part in the subsequent advance on Fairfax and the skirmishes at Mason’s and Munson’s Hills in August, losing 6 in killed and wounded, and at Lewinsville in September, followed by the pull-back to Centreville in October. We find him briefly hospitalized for “Remittent Fever” at Orange Courthouse from November 23 to Dec. 13, which may indicate he was able to see his wife and family again.

Another chance for that was in April 1862 when the regiment was back in Orange County to  reorganize “for the war” on April 23 at Liberty Mills. With Capt. Parran leaving the company, Eheart was elected Captain in his place, effective as of April 23. This would be a likely time for his alteration of his First Lieutenant’s coat to a Captain’s, which would only entail altering the collar and sleeve insignia. The promotion took place in time for him to command the company in Jackson’s Valley Campaign where the regiment was part of Elzey’s Brigade, Ewell’s Division, seeing action at Cross Keys and he pursuit of Union forces after Port Republic.

Moving with the rest of Jackson’s forces to join Lee and strike McClellan on the Peninsula, they were heavily engaged at Gaines Mill on June 27, 1862, losing 27 killed and 84 wounded, the latter including Eheart, slightly wounded in the chest according to a  newspaper report, but seriously enough to explain his absence with leave on the May-June 1862 muster rolls. He recovered, however, in time to return for the Virginia campaign against Pope, being severely wounded in the thigh on August 9 at Cedar Mountain, where Jackson came perilously close to defeat, and the regiment was one of the few to hold their ground or rally and resume the fight, losing 2 killed and 32 wounded.

This wound was serious enough to send him home again and, it seems. submit a resignation, which he withdrew in September. Records indicate he remained away from the regiment “absent wounded” or “absent sick” until April 20, 1863. From December 20, 1862, the rolls list him on “detached service” or “absent wounded, on special duty.” What that duty was is unclear. Recruiting is a possibility for a wounded officer. But, it is tempting to connect it with statements in secondary sources that his wife died sometime in 1863. It is possible his extended stay resulted also from her sickness and the need to make arrangements for his two children- indeed, they are found in 1870 living with Eheart’s mother. Whatever the cause of his absence and nature of his special duty, he was back in the regiment on April 20 and present on extant muster rolls thereafter, including May-June 1863, which puts him with regiment in the Chancellorsville campaign, where they were part of Smith’s Brigade, Early’s Division, assigned to hold Federal forces in check at Fredericksburg while Lee moved with the main part of the army to confront Hooker. They were compelled to fall back from picket duty at Hamilton’s Crossing on April 29 by Federal troops crossing the river, and in the fighting of May 3 and the taking of Marye’s Heights were under heavy shelling and suffered no casualties, but in the fighting of May 4 at Salem Church, the Eheart’s company lost 1 killed, 5 wounded and 4 taken prisoner, with the regiment as a whole losing 6 killed, 35 wounded, and 17 missing in fighting that produced a stalemate, but convinced Sedgwick to pull back across the river and Hooker to abandon the campaign.

The regiment was lucky on the Gettysburg Campaign. As part of Ewell’s Corps they were in the forefront of Lee’s push north, starting on the march on June 5 from Hamilton’s Crossing. On June 13 and 14 they took part, without loss, in the Second Battle of Winchester, a lop-sided Confederate victory, and were then assigned to act as “rearguard” in the words of their muster roll “record of events” for the period, pulling provost guard duty at Winchester as the remainder of the army pushed north. In the Fall the regiment did picket duty on the Rapidan and was under artillery fire at Somerville Ford for several hours in September. In October they took part in the very active marching of the Bristoe Campaign, giving them a chance to pass through Orange and Madison Counties, and were in line of battle and under artillery fire at Bristoe Station, but apparently not further engaged, though marching to Manassas and back and engaged in tearing up the railroad.

The regiment’s passage through Orange and Madison may have given Eheart a chance to visit his children or relatives, if they had not sought safety elsewhere, but he appears to have remained with the regiment in the field until his death at Spottsylvania on May 12. The bimonthly muster rolls are spotty but cover Sept-Oct 1863 and March-April 1864, listing him as present, and requisitions made by him contained in his file appear to place him with his company in the months not covered by those rolls. An affidavit signed by the museum administrator who acquired the coat states Ehart’s granddaughter said he had written in a letter early in 1864 saying he would pay a substitute to take his place in the army if he could just visit and see his children for two days- clearly a family story handed down to console his two orphans.

The regiment fought at the Wilderness on May 5 and May 6 as part of Pegram’s brigade, Early’s division, Ewell’s Second Corps. Reportedly fielding just 257 men, they were part of Gordon’s successful attack on Sedgwick’s troops on the Union right, driving them back a mile, losing 4 killed and 14 wounded in the process. A week later at Spottsylvania, with the brigade commanded by Hoffman, they were part of the counterattack sent in by Gordon on May 12 against Union troops who had stormed the “mule-shoe” salient, retaking the eastern leg of that angle and restoring the broken line in horrendous fighting. The charge  was the occasion of one the famous “Lee to the rear” episodes where soldiers refused to allow Lee to accompany them forward, one source reporting it was a soldier of the 13th Virginia who turned Lee’s horse to the rear and safety.

Eheart was killed in the fighting. Family tradition was that his body was recovered and he was buried in Madison County on a farm owned by the Huskstep family. His name appears on the Orange County Confederate monument, with his granddaughter or granddaughters appearing at the unveiling in 1900. An affidavit including reports of the one granddaughter’s reminiscences indicates the Orange Chapter of the UDC placed a marker on his grave, but this is so far unconfirmed and unlocated.

This is an extremely strong example of a regulation Confederate infantry captain’s coat, worn by an officer with a good combat record who paid the ultimate price, leaving behind two orphaned children.  [sr][ph:L]

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