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Confederate General Daniel Ruggles, Hero of the Battle of Shiloh, 18K Gold Pocket Watch with Painted Second National Confedera...
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Sold on Jun 8, 2013 for:
$4,780.00
Bid Source: Live: Phone bidder
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Description
Confederate General Daniel Ruggles, Hero of the Battle of Shiloh, 18K Gold Pocket Watch with Painted Second National Confederate Flag. The watch is an Appleton Tracy & Co. flexible center pinion 15-jewel 18-key wind movement. The front and back of the hunter's case is engine turned with an "R" engraved in the center. The dust cover is engraved "Daniel Ruggles / Brevet Lieut.Col / U.S.A." and is marked "Flexible Center Pinion Patented Nov. 30, 1858". The works are marked, "Appleton Tracy & Co. / Waltham, Mass. / 32099" which dates the watch to early 1861. The enameled face, marked "Appleton Tracy & Co." is over-painted with the Confederate Sates Second National Flag. The case, numbered "8844" is marked with "18" for 18 karat gold and with "R&A" the mark for the case-maker. The watch is accompanied by a cigar cutter from the Great Southern Life Insurance Company engraved with the name, "W. R. Ruggles". The cigar cutter is on a 12.75 inch watch chain along with a later key for the watch. The watch appears to have a broken staff, but the works are complete. The case is in fine condition.Massachusetts native Daniel Ruggles, born in 1810, was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, Class of 1833. He served with distinction during the Second Seminole War, and later in the Mexican War. He landed at Vera Cruz with General Winfield Scott's army. He was brevetted as a Major on August 20, 1847 for gallantry and meritorious conduct for the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco in Mexico. He was brevetted as a lieutenant colonel for gallantry for the Battle of Chapultepec. After the Mexican War, Ruggles served at a number of garrisons while on frontier service, many in the newly admitted State of Texas. Among his postings were Fort Belknap, Fort McIntosh, and Fort Clark, all in Texas. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Ruggles resigned his commission in the United States Army and offered his services to the Confederacy. He was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of the 1st Division of the Second Corps in the Army of Mississippi. He served alongside General John C. Breckinridge former Vice President of the United States and Confederate general in the 1862 campaign to regain control of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During the battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862, Gen. Ruggles, saw repeated Confederate charges against the Union line known as "The Hornets' Nest" fail. He sent word to his commanders to "Get every gun you can find." Subsequently, artillery was collected from every part of the field and lined up in a row of sixty-two cannons, now known as "Ruggles's Battery", which hammered the Hornets' Nest until the last Confederate charge broke the Union line and forced it to surrender, 12 hours after the battle commenced.
It is interesting to note that one of General Ruggles' sons, Mortimer B. Ruggles, who had served as his father's aide during the war, had a chance meeting with John Wilkes Booth during the latter's escape from Washington, D.C. following the assassination of President Lincoln. The young Ruggles and two companions furnished Booth with a fresh horse, aiding his escape. For that act, all three young men were arrested and imprisoned.
Auction Info
2013 June 8 Civil War & Militaria Signature Auction - Dallas #6098 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2013
8th
Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 5
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 2,597
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
19.5% of the successful bid per lot.
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