Solving a relic mystery?

Our trip to Gettysburg last weekend rekindled one of my old passions. You can't grow up in the South without absorbing a lot of Civil War mythology. It didn't matter that the South lost, it was the nobility (and perhaps the futility) of their struggle that captured our imaginations. A few years ago, back in Tennessee, a boyhood fascination grew into a mid-life obsession as I became an avid collector of Civil War relics.

My buddy Curtis and I located some of the 1863-64 winter encampments of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia near where we grew up. The Division, commanded by General James Longstreet and still over 30,000 strong, had moved south into Tennessee after their loss at Gettysburg. Almost 150 years later, our metal detectors turned up the things they left behind: military items such as bullets, buttons, a handful of rare and valuable belt plates, and those routine items of everyday soldering.

Being a musician, my very favorite finds were musical instruments. Curt and I probably found 50 harmonicas, a dozen jews harps, and a handful of another curious musical items that we still haven't positively identified. At first, we thought these small brass bars, pictured in the top of the photo above, might be a rifle site of some sort because we dug one up between a Confederate artilleryman's button and some Spencer rifle shell casings. After we found more of various lengths scattered around the camp, each marked with a letter that corresponds with a note in the musical scale, it was obvious they were parts of an instrument. We suspected they might be reeds to a wind instrument of some sort, but we've never been quite sure.

At the Gettysburg Visitor Center, next to the "Drinking" display, was an exhibit of Civil War musical instruments. I was instantly drawn to a paper accordian in the display case, probably sold by Civil War sutlers and easily available to the troops. The accordian was fitted with small brass reeds that look very similar to the ones we found in Longsteet's camps. There are some differences, including the attachment holes in the one pictured, but otherwise they look like they are the same size and shape as our relics. Curtis isn't sure, but I think we might have solved the mystery!

What do you think? -S