Welcome to the home page of Henry
Harrison Stone
Sergeant in the 11th Massachusetts Infantry
This site contains:
Transcription and images from his 1864 Pocket Diary
Images from his personal collection
(Last Updated: August 23, 2011
)
The information below was obtained from LegendaryAuctions.com website.
Henry Harrison Stone, a 20-year-old fireman from Charlestown, Massachusetts, enlisted in the Union Army on June 13, 1861—just two months into the Civil War. As a sergeant in "I" Company of the 11th Massachusetts Infantry (Hooker's Brigade), he donned this, his Army of the Potomac blue coat, with bravery and pride at such legendary battles as Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and that most critical of all Civil War engagements: Gettysburg. The future of the United States hinged on those three fateful days in July 1863. If Confederate General Robert E. Lee could steer his men to yet another victory in their march northward, the depleted Union forces might never recover. Slavery would continue. Our country would be the Divided States of America. But Gettysburg proved otherwise. The "High Water Mark of the Confederacy," it was the deadliest battle of the entire war, causing more than 50,000 casualties, prompting General Lee's retreat and signaling a long-awaited turning point for the Union Army.
Sergeant Stone was in the thick of the fight on the battle's bloodiest day. He and the 11th Massachusetts were positioned on Emmitsburg Road as part of the Third Army Corps commanded by Major General Daniel Sickles. The Union line was broken when Confederate troops under General John Bell Hood charged through the nearby Peach Orchard, up along Emmitsburg and then on to Cemetery Ridge. Sickles was struck by a cannonball and carried off on a stretcher for his leg to be amputated. Stone was wounded as well, though it is unknown how severely. Both men were fortunate even to survive such a barrage, and a monument memorializing the many fallen soldiers of the 11th Massachusetts still stands to this day at Gettysburg National Military Park, on the corner of Emmitsburg Road and Sickles Avenue. Sergeant Stone courageously stayed with his regiment and fought at the Battle of Spotsylvania, where he was taken prisoner on May 12, 1864. Stone remained a P.O.W. in Andersonville for six months (during which time he went deaf due to illness) before being exchanged in late 1864 and then mustered out of service in early 1865.
Henry H. Stone's trusty blue coat served him well throughout the prime years of the Civil War—before, during and after the Battle of Gettysburg. He is even said to have referred to it as his "lucky" tunic. It is trimmed with piping and adorned with sergeant's chevrons on both sleeves. The left arm bears a few neat slices and a round patch repair attributed to Stone's Gettysburg injuries. Another small slice is located on the upper back. The buttons are missing, perhaps having been confiscated as Confederate souvenirs while Stone was imprisoned, or perhaps removed by Stone himself to fit into the svelte coat in his later years as a proud veteran. Unlike many Civil War-era garments that have been ravaged by poor storage conditions, the Stone coat is free of such blemishes as staining or moth holes. It is extremely well-preserved, having been meticulously protected from the elements throughout its post-Civil War existence.
Almost a year after Gettysburg (and a mere five weeks before being captured at Spotsylvania), Stone wrote his mother a letter in which he mentioned sending this very coat to her. The original letter, dated April 1, 1864, is included here and reads, in part, "You wish for me to send home any of my clothes that I may have worn in the Battle of 'Gettysburg' - I will do so at once soon as many of the Boys Rail for home on furloughs - we have some who are expecting to go home the first of next week. I will send you my 'jacket' worn in the Battles Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Wapping Heights - also Locust Grove." The cherished coat, which Stone may have continued wearing through his unanticipated time at the notorious Andersonville prison, made its way to Stone's family, in whose care it would remain over the generations for more than a century—long after Stone died in 1892.
In the 1970s, renowned Civil War collector Jim Stamatelos acquired the coat from Henry Stone's great-granddaughter, who related to Stamatelos that although her great-grandfather never spoke of the war and the carnage he witnessed, Stone still would take out the jacket every Memorial Day and wear it as a badge of honor for the Union victory. The great-granddaughter also provided Stamatelos with the aforementioned letter to Stone's mother, another letter about the First Bull Run and an 1861 carte de visite of Stone (wearing an earlier sack coat), all of which are present with this lot. Stamatelos retained the coat for 30 years, displaying it at annual Gettysburg relic conventions (even capturing a prestigious best-of-show award) and also donating its image for publication in two TIME-LIFE books (copies are included)—Echoes of Glory: Arms and Equipment of the Union (1992) and Voices of the Civil War: Gettysburg (1995). (Both books link the patch on the coat's left arm to a Gettysburg bullet hole.) It was then purchased from Stamatelos by Sam Small of The Horse Soldier, a Gettysburg proprietor of Civil War militaria, from whom our consignor bought the coat several years ago. Extensive LOAs from all three—Stamatelos, Small and our consignor—are present as documentation.
Thus, the three occasions on which the Civil War artifact has traded hands were each private sales, making this offering the very first time the coat has ever become publicly available. It should be noted that many Union coats purported to have been worn at Gettysburg cannot be directly tied to the battlefield, even though their wearers may have fought there. To our knowledge, there are only two other extant Gettysburg coats with iron-clad provenance: one worn by Lt. Edward N. Whittier of the 5th Maine Battery and the second, which is displayed at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum, worn by Brigadier General Samuel Crawford.
In addition to the previously stated, accompanying information—Stone's letters and CDV, the two TIME-LIFE books (picturing this coat) and the LOAs from previous owners—further provenance comes in the form of a large binder containing a printed transcription of Stone's 1864 diary while at Andersonville (the entire text is available for viewing on the website http://www.jtb-servers.com/trowbie/H_H_Stone_Diary.htm); Stone's military and pension records; copies of Stone's discharge and obituary; a copy of a post-war letter to Stone from General Hooker; pictures of the other two authentic Gettysburg uniforms noted above; a recent email exchange between the consignor and one of Stone's relatives; and reams of Internet printouts about Stone and his regiment.
Henry H. Stone's "lucky" blue coat, which protected the soldier through hell and high water, would be a coveted Civil War artifact solely for its verified usage in such battles as Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. But the fact remains that this coat not only saw action in those and other skirmishes, but also at Gettysburg—the bloodiest and most famous of all Civil War engagements. Indeed, the Henry H. Stone Coat represents one of the more exciting, impressive and well-documented pieces of Civil War history to reach the market in recent memory, and would be a central feature in any of the finest private collections or elite museums of our United States.
The following supplemental essay by our consignor is an extensive account of Sergeant Henry H. Stone's Civil War experiences:
Henry H. Stone: A Rock of Gettysburg
by Mark Haverkos
1860 was a tumultuous year in the history of the fledgling U.S. Election-year debates between an upstart Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, and the great American orator, Stephen Douglas, focused on the issues of states’ rights and slavery that would soon boil over to their natural conclusion. On October 16, 1859, at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, John Brown’s abolitionist movement had created a spark that would eventually blow the lid off of the seething powder keg of controversy.
Lincoln won the election of November 1860 to become the Nation’s 16th president and moved from his home in Springfield, Illinois, to the White House in Washington, D.C., in February 1861. The calm before the storm was ominous and short-lived, however. On April 12, 1861, the federal battery at Fort Sumner, South Carolina, was fired upon and held by troops of the newly formed Confederate States of America (C.S.A.).
Lincoln responded by mustering new federal troops, and the greatest test of unity that the U.S.A. has ever faced (“The Rebellion,” or what we now know as the U.S. Civil War) had commenced. Three days later on April 15, 1861, Lincoln issued his first proclamation asking for 75,000 militia volunteers to fight in the U.S.A. Army of the Potomac against the C.S.A. army of northern Virginia. It was in this highly-charged atmosphere that a 20-year-old fireman from Charlestown, Massachusetts, by the name of Henry Harrison Stone read a recruitment poster and decided to do his patriotic duty. On June 13, 1861, he enlisted and was mustered into “I” Company, Massachusetts, 11th Infantry as a sergeant, for a three-year stint in the Union Army. He was issued a grey militia uniform from the state of Massachusetts, and sent, as a new recruit, to drill and eventually become part of the legendary Brigadier General Joseph Hooker’s brigade. As such, the 11th would eventually participate in every campaign of the Army of the Potomac except Antietam.
Sgt. Stone departed Massachusetts with the regiment six days after enlisting (June 19, 1861), arriving in Washington D.C. several days later. It was while there, either before or after July's Battle of Bull Run, that a photograph of the strapping new recruit was taken. This original carte-de-visite image, which has the date of August 1861 notated on the reverse, is included in this offering and pictures Sgt. Stone in a four-button sack coat. At some point shortly after the Battle of Bull Run (in which the original grey state-issued uniforms caused some obvious problems), Henry was issued his standard federal uniform, consisting of light blue trousers and the dark blue tunic (Stone's coat/jacket presented here) that remains in excellent condition to this day.
In August 1861, the 11th Massachusetts became part of the 1st brigade, 2nd division, 3rd corps of the Army of the Potomac – better known as “Fighting Joe Hooker’s Brigade.” It was Major General Joe Hooker’s first command and his troops loved him because he was fair and he cared. “Hooker’s Brigade” developed a solid reputation as a hard-fighting unit in most of the major battles of the Army of the Potomac. “I went out in 1861 as a sergeant of Company I, in the 11th Massachusetts, which was one of the first three year regiments that left the state,” said Henry. “I was in every battle that the Army of the Potomac fought, under Fighting Joe Hooker, except Antietam and South Mountain…” (Andersonville Memories, Newspaper Article, Stone Scrapbook). After the war, in 1879, the year of his death, Gen. Hooker personally corresponded with Henry, further exemplifying his legendary character that the men loved (see copy of letter, included).
Wherever Henry and the 11th went, so did his standard issue “lucky jacket” (Echoes of Glory, Time-Life Books). After leaving Washington, D.C., Hooker’s Brigade camped at Bladensburg, Maryland, during the fall of 1861, assisting in the building of forts (to protect Washington, D.C.) and comradeship among the new recruits. They over-wintered on the lower Potomac River in preparation for the peninsular campaign in the spring of 1862. Sgt. Stone and the 11th Massachusetts got their first taste of battle on May 5, 1862 at Williamsburg, Virginia. One week later, for reasons unknown, on May 11, Sgt. Henry Stone was demoted to the rank of Private Sentinel (Special Order No. 34, May 11, 1862).
Soon after, they fought in the battles of Glendale and the Seven Days around Richmond at Oak Grove in June 1862, before retiring to Harrison’s Landing after the Battle of Malvern Hills, where they remained until August 1862. Joining Gen. Pope’s army near Warrenton Junction as part of Grover’s Brigade, Hooker’s Division, the 11th was heavily engaged at the Battle of Second Bull Run near Groveton, Virginia, on August 29, 1862. Pvt. Stone and the 11th successfully led a bayonet charge by the entire brigade against Stonewall Jackson’s line along the famous railroad embankment. Although they suffered heavy casualties in the fierce hand-to-hand combat, Pvt. Henry Stone in his “lucky jacket” emerged unscathed.
After the second Bull Run campaign, the regiment camped near Alexandria, Virginia, until November defending Washington, D.C., during the Antietam campaign (hence Henry’s previous statement). Gen. Joseph Carr then assumed command of the brigade (Carr’s Brigade, Berry’s Division, Sickles’ 3rd Corps). They marched to the Rappahannock River in November and fought at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 13 as part of Gen. William Franklin’s Left Grand Division (see Henry’s letter to his mother, April 1, 1864, “I will send my jacket worn in the Battles of Fredericksburg…”).
On that chilly morning, Henry and comrades gazed quizzically at Stonewall Jackson, who appeared in a bright, new uniform instead of his “familiar rumpled dress,” to lead his forces against the Union assault on his left. Meanwhile, Generals Lee and Longstreet fortified Marye’s Heights outside of the town of Fredericksburg, with their Confederate brigades. Pvt. Stone and the 11th fought admirably, battling Stonewall to a virtual standstill. But the main Union assault forces, under the command of Gen. Ambrose Burnside, were slaughtered trying to take Marye’s Heights. The Union lost 12,600 men in one day at Fredericksburg. Nevertheless, Pvt. Henry Stone, in his “lucky tunic,” marched away from this carnage to live and fight another day.
He camped with the 11th near Falmouth, Virginia, to celebrate Christmas and pray that the New Year would bring peace and unity. However, the camp conditions were abysmal – no pay, little food, horrible disease and filth. In January 1863, when he was part of Burnside’s infamous mud march of January 21-23, conditions reached an all-time low. Gen. Burnside attempted to move his Union forces from the filthy camp through the thick, Virginia mud. He turned back after three days.
Chancellorsville, on May 3, 1863, was one battle that Henry and the 11th would rather forget. They suffered heavy losses while helping to consolidate the Union defense after Stonewall Jackson’s famous flank march which routed the entire 11th corps in the course of the battle.
On April 27, 1863, Gen. Hooker began moving his Union forces toward Chancellorsville, Virginia, which was a solidarity house in the midst of a cultivated clearing, surrounded by woods, ten miles west of Fredericksburg. They occupied the house and surrounding area while, unbeknownst to them, Confederate forces crept through the surrounding woods (“wilderness”) and attacked the Union flank. The wilderness, dry as tinder, began to burn as artillery shells exploded all around. Through a series of brilliant maneuvers by Lee and blunders by Hooker, the smaller Confederate forces routed the Federals, forcing them to retreat back across the Rappahannock River. The Union forces lost 17,000 men at Chancellorsville. Once again, miraculously, Pvt. Henry Stone was among those crossing the river, unscathed, after battling in his “lucky tunic,” (see Henry’s letter to his mother dated April 1, 1864, “…Worn in the Battle of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville…”).
On July 1, 1863, Gen. Carr received urgent orders at the encampment of Henry and the 11th (in Hooker and Carr’s brigade) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. They were to immediately march down the Emmitsburg Road to a large, unfolding battle in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Gen. Lee and a large Confederate force had moved north and invaded Pennsylvania, with the ultimate goal of threatening Washington, D.C. Union forces finally caught up with them and the armies squared off near the little hamlet of Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania, (rumored by the Confederates to have a large supply of shoes, which they desperately needed). Pvt. Stone, so far untouched in his “lucky jacket,” marched all day to finally arrive on the Battlefield at nearly 2:30 a.m. in the early morning hours of July 2 (see letter to mother, April 1, 1864, “…worn in the battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg…”). The battle at Gettysburg had raged all day on the 1st, so the 3rd Corps bivouacked for the rest of the night near Cemetery Ridge, about a half mile north of Devil’s Den. The men had marched continuously all day in the hot July sun of Pennsylvania, and were so tired upon arrival that not even the all-night picket firing between forces interrupted their sleep. As dawn arose on the morning of July 2, 1863, Pvt. Stone and his comrades were amazed to see the unfolding battle happening all around them. Union skirmishers were advancing and receiving volleys from the rebels who now occupied the Emmitsburg road, over which Stone’s division had just marched hours ago.
After awakening, orienting, and preparing themselves for battle, Henry and his comrades were ready to move. The battle was intensifying – the sights, sounds, and smells became overwhelming as both sides maneuvered for position. The deep, thunderous booms of continual cannon fire, punctuated by the staccato of rifle shots and groans and screams of grown men and horses swirled all around them. The cloud of black powder smoke that descended on the hills and valleys surrounding Gettysburg rained bullets of lead everywhere.
As orders were passed on down the line, the first move that the regiment executed was a countermarch to face the Confederate enemy. The corps advanced in a line half a mile at three o’clock in the brilliantly sunny, hot, and humid afternoon of July 2, 1863. The regiment was formed upon arrival at the Emmitsburg road again. Many historians consider this advance of the 3rd corps to the road a huge mistake on the part of the Union commanders because the area was too large and open to be defended. Truly, Henry and company did have clear fields of fire in every direction from the Emmitsburg road, but it was an area so large that even the tenacious fighters of the 3rd Corps were essentially undermanned and outgunned by the large Confederate force bearing down on their position. Pvt. Stone found himself on the extreme right flank of the 3rd Corps line with Carr’s (Hooker’s) brigade. As the skirmishers returned to this line with warning of an impending assault by enemy forces, Henry’s pulse quickened. They had no breastworks or any defensive fortifications to protect themselves from the incoming barrage, so they had to depend on one another on the open line along the Emmitsburg road. Wearing his “lucky jacket,” Henry could hear the rebel yell in the distance as bullets gradually started falling on the ground around him. Soon, the rebel line appeared in the distance, heavily amassed and rapidly advancing. The Union left flank was gradually pushed back in heavy combat. Gen. Barksdale and his Mississippi regiment came across the Emmitsburg pike in a screaming charge that drove the Union forces from the peach orchard in some of the bloodiest hand-to-hand combat of the entire battle. They continued toward the Trostle farm and even farther east across the Plum Run bottom, pushing back the Union center. Carr’s brigade, and the artillery battery that they were supporting, had a clear shot at the Mississippi regiment. Just before they were able to deliver their volley, however, they were inexplicably ordered to execute a right half-wheel and not to discharge a musket because they “would fire upon their own men.” This allowed the advancing Confederate infantry to cut down the 11th and greatly diminish the effect of the first volley delivered by Pvt. Stone and company. The ensuing firefight was fierce and the 3rd corps was severely depleted. Henry lost several friends on that hot, sunny afternoon, even sustaining a wound himself during the fight. In the evening, the Confederates finally fell back beyond the Emmitsburg road after their attack was spent. The 11th lost 23 men killed, 96 wounded (including Stone) and 10 missing. In his military record, Henry is listed as a casualty at Gettysburg, with a “slight wound to the side.” It was also noted that Pvt. Stone did not go to the hospital corps, but elected to stay with his regiment for the duration of the battle. According to the editors of the Time-Life books Echoes of Glory and Voices of the Civil War, the round patch sewn on to the left sleeve of the jacket covers the hole made by the bullet at Gettysburg. Henry patched his jacket and continued to wear it as the 11th marched out of town on the hot July days of 1863 to become part of the storied glory that is the Battle of Gettysburg. It was a 4th of July celebration that Henry would never forget. It should also be noted that it was at this time that Henry was honored with a promotion to the rank of sergeant on July 5, 1863, for his “brave and meritorious conduct in the battle of the 2nd,” (Special Order no. 95, July 5, 1863).
Leaving Washington, D.C., in October 1863, the 11th advanced to the Rappahannock River again and were involved in the Ming Run campaign (November 26 to December 2). On the second day of the campaign, fighting broke out at Locust Grove, Virginia, that involved Henry and the 11th (see letter to his mother dated April 1, 1864, “I will send you my jacket worn in the battle of… - also, Locust Grove…”). Union commanders had grave coordination problems in the thick, wooded wilderness of eastern Virginia. Finally, on November 27, Sgt. Stone and the 11th caught up with rebels and pushed them until they reached a house that stood in an open field near Locust Grove. A firefight ensued that eventually led to the return of the Army of the Potomac to its Brandy Station bivouac for the rest of the winter. Sgt. Henry H. Stone, whose wounds from Gettysburg had healed, wore his patched “lucky tunic” to Locust grove and, once again, marched away unscathed.
It was at this point in history that fate intervened to allow us presently to experience this incredible piece of Americana that is a relic of some of the most storied battles of the Civil War. Henry Stone frequently wrote letters while in the army and sent them home to his mother. Postal service during the Civil War, for the soldiers, was actually very effective, with most letters and parcels delivered within 10 to 14 days of sending. Many of Henry’s letters are included in various collections throughout the country (see Provenance Book and Scrapbook images). Two of his original letters to his mother are included with the jacket. One was written after the Battle of First Bull Run in 1861. The other was written on April 1, 1864. It reads in part, “…you wish for me to send home any of my clothes that I may have worn in the Battle of 'Gettysburg' I will do so at once…I will send you my 'Jacket' worn in the Battles Fredericksburg Chancellorsville Gettysburg and Wapping Heights – also Locust Grove.” We know then that sometime in April or shortly thereafter Henry sent, to his mother in Massachusetts, a parcel containing his jacket, “That I wore…in the battles of…Gettysburg.” It was soaked with his dried sweat, blood, and memories, and was a very precious relic to Henry in the years following the war. He even put it on for each Memorial Day in honor of what he and his fallen comrades had endured to preserve the nation. It was kept by Henry until his death in 1892, and passed down through the family Stone until its purchase by James Stamatelos, world-renowned Civil War uniform collector, from Henry’s great-granddaughter in the 1970s (letter included).
After writing to his mother about sending home his “lucky jacket”, Henry was excited. It was May 1864, and in just one more month he would be free to return to his family and home in Charleston, Massachusetts. He had not seen them in almost three years. Henry was due to muster out on June 13, 1864, upon completion of his three year term of enlistment. Fate intervened at Spotsylvania, Virginia, however.
After leaving Brandy Station in May 1864, Henry and his regiment joined what became known as the Rapidan Campaign. “Wednesday – May 4 – march all last night…continued today – crossed the Rapidan at Ely’s Ford. Came to a halt at 4 p.m. at the old battleground of the year previous – Chancellorsville,” Henry wrote in his diary. “Friday, May 6 – this has been an awful day’s fighting; used all our ammunition; filled our boxes twice. Came out the fight at night exhausted completely.”
When Gen. Grant’s Union forces (including Henry) reached Spotsylvania, Virginia, on May 11, Lee and his Confederates were waiting for them. At dawn on May 12, Grant sent 20,000 men under Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock against the Confederate center, along a curved area that the men first called “The Mule Shoe” and later, “The Bloody Angle.” The fight raged intensely all day and into the night, as the conflict did not cease until well after midnight. A Union veteran remembered it simply as, “The most terrible day I have ever lived.” Henry lived this day, too, although possibly for the first time without his “lucky tunic” (which he had told his mother weeks prior that he would be sending home "at once"). The two armies lost 12,000 men on that single day – killed, wounded, or captured. We’ll now let Sgt. Stone tell his story. “I was made prisoner on the 12th day of May, 1864, in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House,” remembered Henry. “Our corps, the 2nd, had taken 8000 Rebs in the morning, besides 17 pieces of artillery, and I became a captive with others in what was General Hancock’s charge. I was in that part of the line that Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his poem founded on that charge, calls ‘The Death Angle’ – the extreme right of the line. We were ordered on to the works, and some of us found ourselves in a trap with nothing to do but surrender or be shot down without a chance to fight back. We surrendered and six terrible months began for me right off. It was pretty hard on a man who saw home so near, but such is the luck of war. I had been pretty lucky up to that time…” All of this happened a mere one month before Henry was due to muster out and one month after he had promised to send his “lucky tunic” home! Further adding insult to injury, Henry was sent to the infamous Andersonville prison in northern Georgia to languish for eight months (and losing his hearing in the process at the prison) until he was freed in a prisoner exchange on December 10, 1864. While being held in the death hole called Andersonville, Henry wrote one of the most famous and well-renowned works of literature to come out of Andersonville – his diary. Several years ago, the Stone family graciously donated Henry’s sacred diary to the National Prisoner of War Museum at the Andersonville National Historical Site to be preserved and displayed for generations to come. A full transcript and photographs of the original diary are included with the jacket.
After being mustered out of the army on February 18, 1865, (a mere two months prior to the war’s end at Appomattox Courthouse). Henry was very active in the post-war annual reunions of the old 11th regiment, as well as being an officer and member of the Civil War prisoner-of-war society (see scrapbook images). He was also an active member of G.A.R. post #2 in South Boston, Massachusetts. He was involved in the planning for, and dedication of, the 11th Massachusetts monument on the Emmittsburg Road in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. According to his great-granddaughter, Henry didn’t speak of his experiences in the “rebellion” very much. The newspaper interview with him from the scrapbook (“Andersonville Memories”) says as much as anything (“I was wounded only once – just slightly at Gettysburg”). But she did tell Jim Stamatelos that on every Memorial Day, Henry would once again wear his jacket to honor that which he and his comrades had done for their country. Henry was a very courageous man whose memory lives on through his jacket, one of the finest pieces of Americana remaining in private hands. This jacket and the items that make up the remainder of this offering are of the highest museum-quality and would be the centerpiece of any Civil War or Americana collection held privately or publicly. In addition to the jacket, which some call the “finest piece of Civil War memorabilia with battlefield provenance in existence,” an original CDV photo of Henry H. Stone, taken in Washington, D.C., shortly after his enlistment in 1861, is included. The collection also has: two original letters that Henry Stone wrote to his mother while in the army – one of which is the “iron-clad provenance” letter of April 1, 1864; copies of his full military and pension records; two Time-Life books – Voices of the Civil War: Gettysburg (1995) and Echoes of Glory – Arms and Equipment of the Union (1992) – which include photos of the jacket and brief text; a 50-page provenance book filled with the three provenance letters along with photos from Henry’s diary and scrapbook, copies of his discharge papers, promotion, obituary, letters, articles, and other memorabilia items as well as a full regimental history of the 11th and full transcript of his Andersonville diary. It is a package suitable for any advanced collection. Of all of the thousands of uniforms worn in the Battle of Gettysburg, only three are known to still exist with “iron-clad” provenance that traces them directly to the battle! One is called the Crawford coat (after Gen. Samuel Crawford) and is on permanent display at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The second resides in the world-renowned collection of noted Civil War artist Don Troiani and was worn by Lt. E.N. Whittier of the 5th Maine Battery. The third is the Stone coat presented here. It has the complete chain of provenance intact, from family to our consignor. It may be the last chance ever to own a piece of the gallantry of Gettysburg as this is the first public offering of any uniform piece from Gettysburg. It is offered with our highest recommendations. Only one other comparable piece remains in private hands. To be in the presence of such a relic confirms the sanctity that Henry and all of those who sacrificed for this country, gave to the term “United States of America.”