A Really Stupid Ebay ad

That is either the deal of the century... or not.

Some of the other items for sale from the same vendor appear to fall in the same category. Now obviously I hope everthing that they are selling is as advertised... but... well... caveat emptor...

I will say no more on the subject.
 
Could also be from Scott or Halleck or maybe even from McClellan. Not that I´d think it to be an original from that time. However for that price ... just imagine if it would be. Indeed a deal of the century.

Of course there´d also be the strange case of a Confederate Colonel combining stars and shoulder boards ...
 
The biggest thing is they didn't show any photos of the back of these shoulder boards. These were used way into the 1890. I do part with some of my CW 401K on ebay but it just amazes me that with the this new thing called the interweb that someone could be such a moron.
 
Could also be from Scott or Halleck or maybe even from McClellan. Not that I´d think it to be an original from that time. However for that price ... just imagine if it would be. Indeed a deal of the century.

Of course there´d also be the strange case of a Confederate Colonel combining stars and shoulder boards ...
I had forgotten about Scott, who was still active when the war began, but neither Halleck nor McClellan ever had a third star. And I never heard of a Confederate officer wearing shoulder boards.
 
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.That price seems fishy, like someone is counting on a buyer grabbing it quickly thinking ' Whoa, what a deal! ". There are always a few fishy ambryotypes for sale- genuinely old cases but images copied from LoC. Really have to watch Ebay. Maybe this item is genuine, who knows- but if the seller knows what it is they've researched enough to bump into the information on what it's worth, too.

Throwing myself under the bus for you guys ( who know the collecting world extremely well ) to get a good laugh ( deserve it ). First and last relic I bought was a small case containing er, mini balls. Forget what the price was, something silly. ALL pleased with myself, had to share the purchase- got the comment " I make mine in the basement ". :roflmao:
 
I had forgotten about Scott, who was still active when the war began, but neither Halleck nor McClellan ever had a third star. And I never heard of a Confederate officer wearing shoulder boards.

Three stars were authorized for the Commanding General of the U.S. Army (though the central star usually should be larger than the others), both Halleck and McClellan serving on that post. And apparently some stretch the civil war until mid 1866 which would include Sherman as Lieutenant General as well.

halleck1w.jpg


Henry Halleck with three stars.

And initially shoulder boards were the standard for Confederate officers, just like the rank insignia, before the collar insignia became regulation, stemming from old army days and militia uniorms. With time the rank insignia changed (more or less twice but of course individual state forces at times had their own as well) and shoulder boards became less and less. Some even combined them, in some cases with multiple rank insignia systems as well.

Wade_Hampton.jpg


An interesting case for that is Wade Hampton, combining the stree stars of a Confederate Colonel collar insignia with the Palmetto tree of a Colonel in the South Carolina Volunteer Forces.

Beside that the seller doesn´t say that it was actually worn, just that it was from the civil war. It could easily be a surplus made but never sold, or sold but just for teaching or display purposes (today many units and bases display all rank insignias, probably back then some units or institutions, more likely regulars, did so as well). I´m not saying that it is, I´m just saying that it could.

To put it in fewer words - the civil war can be pretty complicated. Still that price would be madness for an original, as would be putting in so few details ... however by now it has already quintupled and there is still a week to go, so we´ll see.
 
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Three stars were authorized for the Commanding General of the U.S. Army (though the central star usually should be larger than the others), both Halleck and McClellan serving on that post. And apparently some stretch the civil war until mid 1866 which would include Sherman as Lieutenant General as well.

halleck1w.jpg


Henry Halleck with three stars.

And initially shoulder boards were the standard for Confederate officers, just like the rank insignia, before the collar insignia became regulation, stemming from old army days and militia uniorms. With time the rank insignia changed (more or less twice but of course individual state forces at times had their own as well) and shoulder boards became less and less. Some even combined them, in some cases with multiple rank insignia systems as well.

Wade_Hampton.jpg


An interesting case for that is Wade Hampton, combining the stree stars of a Confederate Colonel collar insignia with the Palmetto tree of a Colonel in the South Carolina Volunteer Forces.

Beside that the seller doesn´t say that it was actually worn, just that it was from the civil war. It could easily be a surplus made but never sold, or sold but just for teaching or display purposes (today many units and bases display all rank insignias, probably back then some units or institutions, more likely regulars, did so as well). I´m not saying that it is, I´m just saying that it could.

To put it in fewer words - the civil war can be pretty complicated. Still that price would be madness for an original, as would be putting in so few details ... however by now it has already quintupled and there is still a week to go, so we´ll see.
Interesting! When was that picture of Halleck taken? All the pictures I have seen of him showed two stars on his shoulders, and he was never a Lieutenant General, nor ever was McClellen. But their actual rank is irrelevant, of course, if either man wore three stars. As for Sherman, I don't consider 1866 still to be the Civil War, and neither, I believe, would most people.
 
Brigadiers (instead of Brigadier Generals) are in a weird position in several countries as well. And Commodore, beside the customary use, actually has been a proper rank in the U.S. Navy several times. And to top the whole thing - for a few months they even had the rank of Commodore Admiral ...
 
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As for Sherman, I don't consider 1866 still to be the Civil War, and neither, I believe, would most people.

The official date for the end of the Civil War is by President Johnson's April 2, 1866 Proclamation ending the Civil War in all states except Texas. Johnson issued a second Proclamation on August 20, 1866 Proclamation ending the Civil War in Texas. Since Sherman was promoted to Lt. General in July 1866, he technically was a 3-star general during the Civil War
 
The official date for the end of the Civil War is by President Johnson's April 2, 1866 Proclamation ending the Civil War in all states except Texas. Johnson issued a second Proclamation on August 20, 1866 Proclamation ending the Civil War in Texas. Since Sherman was promoted to Lt. General in July 1866, he technically was a 3-star general during the Civil War
That's a great trivia contest answer, too. I'm sure Johnson had political reasons for making that declaration when he made it. But the last battle of the Civil War, at Palmito Ranch in Texas, concluded on May 13, 1865. In my book, a war without any more fighting is no longer a war. It is something else. I think most people would agree with me. The last two Japanese WWII combatants surrendered on Mindanao in 2005, but few would say that WWII didn't end until then. There are other wars which "technically" never ended, because no armistice formally ending them ever was signed. In fact, some think the Civil War never ended!
 
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That's a great trivia contest answer, too. I'm sure Johnson had political reasons for making that declaration when he made it. But the last battle of the Civil War, at Palmito Ranch in Texas, concluded on May 13, 1865. In my book, a war without any more fighting is no longer a war. It is something else. I think most people would agree with me. The last two Japanese WWII combatants surrendered on Mindanao in 2005, but few would say that WWII didn't end until then. There are other wars which technically never ended, because no armistice was ever signed. In fact, some think the Civil War never ended!

I used Johnson's Proclamation dates for the end of the war just a few weeks ago on the Trivia board here on CWT. The bonus question asked "Who were the Union three-star generals in the Civil War?"
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/11-2-18-three-parter-bonus.151064/
 
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