Civil War Iron Stirrup, dug by Dean Thomas at the Chancellorsville Battlefield

This is another nice piece being offered, it is a Civil War iron stirrup (probably Confederate). It measures 5 ½” x 6” x 1 ¼”. This stirrup was dug by the late well-known author, historian, and relic hunter Dean Thomas. He dug this relic from Mineral Spring Road on the Chancellorsville, Virginia Battlefield.

Federal earthworks were erected here along the Mineral Spring Road on May 2, 1863. They anchored on the Rappahannock River to the northeast and extended to the southwest apex on Ely’s Ford Road. This line was backed up by a second and third line of infantry and artillery a short distance in the rear.

Humphrey’s Division V Corps occupied this section. They were replaced by von Steinwehr’ s Division, Corps on XI on May 3. Here Steinwehr’ s men were under fire by Confederate skirmishers and artillery. The Eleventh Corps withdrew with the rest of the Army of the Potomac on May 6.

This relic, which is probably Confederate, has overall rust, but it had a light coat of varnish applied at one time for preservation, and it is now solid and not chipping. Dean just recently passed away and this piece came directly from his collection. This is a great piece for any collection and can even be appreciated more coming from Dean’s personal collection.