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THB[CIVIL WAR] Excavated Virginia in Wreath Belt Plate
![[CIVIL WAR] Excavated Virginia in Wreath Belt Plate](https://s1.img.bidsquare.com/item/xl/3228/32289531.jpeg?t=1UOmHt)
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About Auction
LiveNov 22, 2025
This exclusive catalog presents a select offering from the personal collection of Alejandro "Alex" de Quesada Jr., renowned historian, author, and collector. The catalog features exceptionally rare swords, historically significant belt buckles and military insignia, original Civil War flags, and a wide range of ephemera representing pivotal moments in military history. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com
View Full Catalog (254)
- Lot Description
"Virginia in a wreath" sword belt plate. Solid cast brass. Lacking applied brass tongue. Serial number "11" stamped to reverse. 3 3/8 X 1 15/16 in. Gavin 146; Kerkis 431-433; Mullinax 394.
Modern ink inscription to reverse: "S.H. / Found - / Yellow Tavern [V]A. / Cavalry Battle."
Mullinax notes that "most of this style are considered post-war, however those with serial numbers on back saw wartime use and have been excavated." (Confederate Belt Buckles & Plates, pl. 394 This excavated example was dug at the site of the Battle of Yellow Tavern and is clearly stamped to the reverse. There is speculation that at least some of the plates were English imports run through the blockade (Gavin p. 181; Kerkis, p. 437)
On 11 May 1864, in the midst of the Overland Campaign, the Federal Cavalry commanded by Major General Philip Sheridan clashed with the Confederates at an abandoned inn six miles north of Richmond in the Battle of Yellow Tavern.
The battle marked the turning point for Sheridan, in which he began to aggressively wield the Cavalry Corps as an independently operating offensive weapon, rather than the traditional role of screening and reconnaissance. He advocated to concentrate the cavalry and "move out in force against Stuart's command, and whip it." And whip him they did, as Confederate Cavalry commander Major General J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded during the fracas, shot in the abdomen by dismounted Private John Huff of Custer's 5th Michigan Cavalry. As he was carried from the field, he was reported to have shouted, "Go back! I had rather die than be whipped."
Notably, George Armstrong Custer had ascended to command a Division and led a charge on the Virginia Central Railroad, liberating nearly 400 Union prisoners bound for Richmond.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Relics, Militaria, Accouterment, Equipment, Uniforms]
Condition
Lacking tongue to reverse. Some cracking, minor verdigris.
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