As Chris Nelson remarked on an identical Klemm marked bugle in his excellent article in North-South Trader, “If you want only one representative Civil War bugle, this is the one to have.” The distinction between trumpets for mounted troops and bugles for others was not observed to any great degree during the war and we see this pattern carried by cavalry, artillery and infantry. Made of copper with brass garland and ferrules, single twist and lengthwise dovetail seam, and standing 16 inches tall, counting the mouthpiece, this is nicely marked above the bell, “KLEMM & BRO” in an arc over “PHILA.” The firm had prewar and wartime U.S. contracts for bugles, trumpets, and fifes, and contracts for drum snares during the war as well. Contracts for bugles specifically included two 1856 contracts for a total of 50 and wartime contracts that included Jan. 7 and Oct. 20, 1864 for total of 1,300 bugles and another on Aug. 12 specifically for 350 copper bugles (Bazelon and McGuinn.) Nelson says their 1864 contracts for bugles totaled 1,800. There were likely other purchases as well.

This has a nice aged patina to both the copper and brass. The maker stamp is sharp, clear and legible with only the upper right of the “P” and left side of the “H” in “Phila.” being light. The solder holding the overlapping portions of the tube together is still in place. The long brass ferrule holding the mouthpiece has bend that could be fixed. The rear loop, beside it, has a small ding that can be left alone. The brass garland is complete and securely in place. There is one very small nick to its upper edge as it lies against the bell. The underside of the bell shows to fingernail size spots along the rim next to the crimped edge of the garland where verdigris formed and ate away the thin copper. This can and should be treated to remove and arrest it, and we see three or four other spots on the horn that should be dealt with as well. The procedure does not seem to be complicated or expensive, but we prefer to leave things as they came to us and let the buyer make the ultimate decision.

This is a very good example of the quintessential Civil War bugle by a known maker with Civil War contracts and with a nice untouched patina.  [sr] [ph:L]

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