Soldier’s Brass Stencil, dug at Hansborough Ridge, VA by Bill Gavin

This is another nice piece being offered, it is an excavated brass stencil, commonly used by soldiers to mark their possessions. This brass stencil is broken in half and nearly all the detailed lettering is gone; essentially leaving just the frame. It was recovered in Hansborough Ridge Virginia, near Stevensburg, and just a few miles east of Culpeper (see period photo).

The flat ridge saw fighting during the Brandy Station battle and was utilized as a Union camp and field hospital at other times. The stencil was dug by the late Bill Gavin, who was one of the nations most prominent and esteemed Civil War relic diggers, author, and collector.

Mr. Gavin shared his Civil War knowledge via the publication of four books and several magazine articles. In 1963 he authored one of the earliest books on relic buckles (Accoutrement Plates North and South, 1861-65), and in the 1970s established the Rectory Museum in Harper's Ferry.

Obviously not in the best condition, but it is a stencil that belonged to a Civil War soldier and obviously well used. These stencils were often made to the specifications of the soldier by the camp sutler. Some had just their name, while others listed their unit information. In “Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns”, by Stanley Phillips, there are excavated examples of these stencils (see pictures). Part of the appeal of this piece is that it was once part of Bill Gavin’s collection. I have several of his pieces in my private collection. In my book “The Civil War Soldier – His Personal Items”, I show several of these stencils (see pictures). It comes in the glass top display case pictured.