Description

Here is a most interesting piece we purchased from a private collector near my hometown in Pennsylvania on one of our many trips over the decades. ( just a few miles from Gettysburg)  Consists of a single black and white shoulder epaulette with post war Maryland National Guard button. The epaulette is in pretty rough shape as seen in the pictures. Inside the pad of the moth eaten board is a slip of paper pinned to the pillow (with very thin 19th c needle) which reads in faded pencil “Zachary(sic) G.D. Forrest, C.S.A.  Nephew of Nathan B. Forrest”. Data base shows a Zachariah G.D. Forrest  from Baltimore  mustered  into D Co. of the MD 1st Infantry, CSA, in May 1861. The unit was later disbanded and he subsequently enlisted in Co K 1st VA Cavalry in June 1862. He was listed as a POW in May 1863, eventually imprisoned in Illinois, took the oath of allegiance in November 1864, and then joined the US Army. The 1st Maryland has a very interesting history with roots dating back to  1774 and some of the men were part of the first  troops mustered in around Harpers Ferry  and designated as a CSA regiment.  Having been previously part of the MD Militia with a great and glorious history, after the war in 1867 men of the old 1st and 2nd Maryland CSA, who were so inclined, were consolidated along with the 5th Maryland Volunteer Infantry, US to form the Maryland National Guard. A photo of a uniform coat from the MNG worn in the Centennial Legion Parade in 1876 is provided which bears the same epaulettes. Our research suggests this uniform was developed after the postwar consolidation of the CSA and US state troops into the Maryland National Guard, indicating the epaulette was in possible use by Forrest sometime between the 1867 and 1876 period. We cannot find any confirmation of this Confederate soldier’s familial relationship with Gen’l. Nathan Bedford Forrest but did not do any exhaustive search. The Gen’l. had multiple siblings – could be valid, or could be just a southern ancestor’s fancy or simply more distant than stated. At any rate the enlistment in the US army is very interesting, and would have likely not been met with great cheers from most of the Forrest clan. Either he, or an ancestor, seems to have been more interested in documenting his southern ties as opposed to his subsequent US service. An interesting piece as is – worthy of more research potentially increasing the value significantly. In his later years the CW data base indicates Zachariah was a resident of York, PA, where I purchased the item – just a few miles from Baltimore, his residence when he enlisted, and a few miles from the old sod of the Gettysburg area, the land of my nativity.