Sherman's Neckties

I’m glad you asked this question... in spite of my love of railroads and the civil war I never would have thought any of these would have survived! I imagine most were sold for scrap after the war. It’d be an interesting reenactment to take someone with a forge wagon to recreate this operation.
As I recall the process is briefly shown in the John Wayne movie The Horse Soldiers.
 
That's one hell of a souvenir. Closest I have to that in my collection is a solid 20 pound Parrott shell fired by a Wisconsin artillery unit at Waul's Texas Legion during the siege of Vicksburg. A buddy of mine inherited it from an uncle who was an avid relic hunter down in Mississippi in his youth. I'm still in college so money is tight...can't wait to graduate so I can hopefully start making money and expand my rather small relic room.
I think they were a little mistaken about the “twisting”. Initially the rails were bent around trees but the Rebs only had to reheat them and bend them back. Later Sherman’s men learned if they “twisted” them lengthwise like you might twist a newspaper into a tighter roll, then the rails could not be untwisted and bent back. (I think I am correct about this, but not sure).
 
I do wonder how many of the few remaining Sherman neckties are actually from the Civil War, as opposed to a more recent replica.

I would imagine any authentic ones that survived salvage after the ACW would not have also survived the voracious scrap metal drives of WW1 and especially WW2, unless they were lost in the woods at the time (or underwater).
 
I do wonder how many of the few remaining Sherman neckties are actually from the Civil War, as opposed to a more recent replica.

I would imagine any authentic ones that survived salvage after the ACW would not have also survived the voracious scrap metal drives of WW1 and especially WW2, unless they were lost in the woods at the time (or underwater).
I suspect that are many out there today in rivers but then again if they were going to dump them in a river they may not have had to bend them. The one found in Jackson, Miss. was the standard neck time or ribbon look.
 
I know where one section of narrow gauge rail from the Montgomery & West Point Railway (AL) from Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau's raid on the line under orders from Sherman in July 1864. I have been after it for years but have never been able to secure it. It was placed under a house after the Union troops left the area and have never been moved. I've seen it and it's twisted and bent in a U shape. It is near the location were Rousseau and his troops began their orders of the destruction of the RR at Lochapoka, AL. The Union Officers took over a house that is still standing today in downtown Notasulga, AL along the RR about 2 miles East of Camp Watts. A few years ago the family silverware was returned to the family in Notasulga, it was still in the wooden box with the family's name engraved on a brass plaque fixed to the lid. The family's descendant is a contractor and when doing a renovation, he found a large amount of Confederate money and a Sharps rifle. He also owns a CS Calvery bridal bit with the leather straps still intact, amazing family collection of non-dug artifacts.
 
I know where one section of narrow gauge rail from the Montgomery & West Point Railway (AL) from Maj. Gen. Lovell Rousseau's raid on the line under orders from Sherman in July 1864. I have been after it for years but have never been able to secure it. It was placed under a house after the Union troops left the area and have never been moved. I've seen it and it's twisted and bent in a U shape. It is near the location were Rousseau and his troops began their orders of the destruction of the RR at Lochapoka, AL. The Union Officers took over a house that is still standing today in downtown Notasulga, AL along the RR about 2 miles East of Camp Watts. A few years ago the family silverware was returned to the family in Notasulga, it was still in the wooden box with the family's name engraved on a brass plaque fixed to the lid. The family's descendant is a contractor and when doing a renovation, he found a large amount of Confederate money and a Sharps rifle. He also owns a CS Calvery bridal bit with the leather straps still intact, amazing family collection of non-dug artifacts.
I’ve studied the Battle of West Point (GA) which took place very late in the war. The Union troops destroyed a huge amount of material there, as you probably know. I bet the Chattahoochee is loaded with Sherman Neckties.
 
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