RARE MEMENTOS OF GENERAL GEORGE CUSTER FROM APPOMATTOX PRESENTED BY LIBBIE CUSTER

RARE MEMENTOS OF GENERAL GEORGE CUSTER FROM APPOMATTOX PRESENTED BY LIBBIE CUSTER

02-21959

Framed letter from Libbie Custer written to Col. George Briggs, last commander of Custer’s 7th Michigan Cavalry that features a 2″ X 1″ souvenired piece of the Confederate “flag of truce” from Appomattox Courthouse, a 2″ x 1″ souvenired piece of the desk that Gen. Lee and Gen. Grant signed the surrender document that ended the war, and there is a 2″ x 1″ piece of one of General Custer’s red bandanas, he famously wore throughout the Civil War. Libbie’s handwritten letter is framed with these souvenir pieces, reads as follows; “New York, March 1908- My Dear Col. Briggs, It is a pleasure to present to you these souvenirs of the Civil War. Gen. Sheridan gave me the table on which the terms of the surrender of Gen. Lee to Gen. Grant were written. I replaced the lower panel of the drawer and had cut the original into mementos of the day at Appomattox. The scrap of linen is from the towel which Maj. Simms of the Confederate Army used as the first flag of truce where he entered our lines, the day of the surrender. The fragment of red is from one of the Generals neckties. Sincerely yours, Elizabeth B. Custer”.
CONDITION: Letter & 3 souvenirs are dry mounted to board. Letter is acid burned and yellowed with age, but ink text is dark and easily discerned. The 3 souvenired pieces have good color and present well.
PROVENANCE: Colonel George G. Briggs estate, on loan and displayed at Appomattox National Park Museum 2014-2024, Martin Lane Historic & Western Americana Lifetime Collection.