Civil War musical “Jew’s Harp”, dug at LaGrange, TN in 1980, published

This is another nice personal item being offered, it is an excavated Civil War soldier’s 1 7/8” x 1 ½” Jews Harp from the famous John Marks collection. John identified this piece with “LG+10 / 2-11-80”, indicating that he recovered it at LaGrange, Tennessee on February 11, 1980. These little musical instruments were very popular with both sides during the war.

Unlike other Southern towns that were occupied by Union troops, La Grange suffered severely at the hands of the thousands of Federals who established a garrison there. The Civil War arrived on the very doorsteps of La Grange on June 13, 1862, less than one week after the fall of Memphis to Union troops.

From that moment, either Union or Confederate soldiers occupied the town due to its strategic importance along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. At one time, as many as thirty thousand Union soldiers were encamped in and around the town, and over three thousand wounded or sick were hospitalized there.

By far the most famous Civil War-era event that occurred in La Grange was “Grierson's Cavalry Raid”. In April 1863, Union Col. Benjamin H. Grierson led 1,700 mounted cavalry from La Grange to Baton Rouge, covering 600 miles in sixteen days. Grierson's daring raid contributed to Grant's success in taking Vicksburg in 1863.

John Marks was from the Memphis, Tennessee area and had an award-winning collection. Some of his finds were pictured in the North South Trader Magazine (see pictures) and in Dr. Francis A. Lords Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia. Mr. Marks took the time to mark the locations of his recoveries and record the dates on all the artifacts he excavated. Mr. Marks relic hunted for 33 years up to the year of his passing at 83.