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Your Price: $ 1995.00
Item Number: 3505
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Offered here from our decades on aggressively seeking out and tucking away away such treasures is the beautifully engraved, American eagle embellished, nickel-silver waist belt plate of William Eckhardt as a member of the German American TURNER SOCIETY. (Totally original, untouched and with no condition issues we will let the plate speak for itself through our illustrations leaving the bulk of our comment to the history.)
An organization of German immigrants founded in this country in 1848, based on the political and cultural Turner societies that had existed in Germany since the Napoleonic Wars, the Turners were heavily involved in the American political and militia scene in the Civil War period to include providing the bodyguard at Abraham Lincoln's 1861 inauguration and at his funeral in April 1865. Rare though they are, there are sufficient enough variations in these plates to indicate that each is likely unique. While they offer common society mottoes and signs with common construction, material and style, each seem to have been individually designed to the liking of the wearer. A common feature though is the identification of the specific society member. In this instance the plate offers the script engraved identification to William Eckhardt who is listed in the 1858 Baltimore directory as a tavern owner at 13 Second Street. Enlisting on October 29, 1862 to serve as a private of the 8th Maryland Infantry. As a draftee (see illustration from ancestry.com) Eckhardt was assigned to Co. K which was comprised primarily of draftees and substitutes.
By the 1850s the Turner Society was operating in major American cities with Baltimore as a hub of their influence. Expansion spawned formation of the American Know-Nothing party and ultimately led to violent clashes between the two groups. As strong minded Unionists, Turners served in the Civil War Federal military in such numbers that many chapters became inactive or were disbanded because of the number serving in the army. Existing period images of members wearing these distinctive belt plates and at least one example of a battlefield recovery serves to document Civil War military use by Unionist German immigrants. For an in depth reference to the TURNERS, their history, involvement in American politics, the abolition movement, and Civil War military along with equipage to include these belt plates see: Rifles & Blades of the German-American Militia & the Civil War by Thomas B. Rentschler. See also: Thomas Rentschler’s work on German American service in the Civil War and O’Donnell & Campbell’s work on American Military Belt Plates offering an identified Shiloh battlefield recovery. Referred to by specialist collectors as Clear the road !! or Get out of the way!! waist belt plates for the ever present German ’Bahn Frei’ motto, existing examples are prized by specialty collectors of historic German American material as well as Civil War collectors. Buy with confidence! We are pleased to offer a no questions asked three day inspection with return as purchased on direct sales! Just send us a courtesy e-mail to let us know your item will be returned per these provisions and your purchase price will be refunded accordingly. Thanks for visiting Gunsight Antiques!
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