The 30 Minute Rule begins April 15 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By April 15 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
Remarkable original private-purchase identification disc of Private Richard Solon of Company H, 1st Michigan Cavalry, who saw action alongside George A. Custer's cavalry at Gettysburg. The excavated disc measures approximately 1.25˝ in diameter and features the portrait of Major General George B. McClellan on the front, with "War of 1861" below; the reverse is engraved: "Richard Solon, Detroit, Mich. Cedar Moun., Co. H., 1st Mich. Cav., Battles of Chantilly, Winchester, Bull Run." In very good to fine condition.
The First Michigan Cavalry was organized at Detroit and mustered into federal service on September 13, 1861, with an enrollment of 1,144 officers and men. The regiment left for Washington, D.C. on September 29, 1861, and went into camp near Frederick, Maryland, where it remained several months. It was during this time that Richard Solon, then a resident of Frederick, enlisted and was mustered in as a private in Company H. During his service with the regiment Solon was promoted to bugler and would see some of the hardest cavalry righting of the war, to include action with Custer's cavalry at Gettysburg.
Solon was wounded by gunshot on June 11, 1864, at Trivillion Station, and listed as 'missing, known wounded.' He was taken prisoner there and confined in Richmond until his parole on September 1, 1864. The freed cavalryman was admitted to the hospital on September 22, 1864, and on January 7th the long-suffering trooper was subjected to amputation of his left leg. Solon would be discharged for disability at Harper Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, and continued to suffer the effects of his wounds until his death on June 12, 1898.
Notably, this 'best of kind' identification disc is pictured in the book Battlefields of the Civil War by William C. Davis (p. 101).
The Collection of Dr. Joseph Matheu.
