Considerations respecting miscellaneous curios—Battlefield souvenirs—Regimental colours—Odds and ends of dress equipment—Books and newspapers of military interest—Royal souvenirs—Official military documents—Gruesome relics—Relics of the Great War

Among the most acceptable military curios are those which may be classed as miscellaneous; they range from fragments of "Black Marias" to chocolate tins, and Prussian helmets to early copies of the Army List. Treasures which come under this head are to be found at almost every turn—in sale-rooms, in the shop windows of second-hand dealers, in cottages and mansions, in local museums—almost everywhere, in fact.

Curiously enough, the military treasures which may be described as miscellaneous are usually to be picked up very cheaply, for there is a much smaller demand for them than there is for such groups of things as medals, firearms, and armour and, of course, the price is regulated by the demand.

There is one axiom which must be always kept in view when purchasing odd military curios. It is not sufficient to know, in our own minds, that a certain article is genuine; we must know enough to be able to prove the fact to other collectors or else the "selling-price" value of the treasure will be little more than nothing. Of course, with such things as medals, autographs, weapons, etc., it is merely the work of an expert to say whether a certain specimen is genuine or not, but no amount of careful examination can ever decide the authenticity of a certain souvenir said to belong, perhaps, to Wellington, or the genuineness of a shot which was supposed to have caused the death of such and such a great soldier. Relics of this nature must be backed with good documentary evidence or their value can be but trifling. A case in point may be given by way of an example:—

A soldier recently showed the writer a pocket-knife, bearing the coat-of-arms of Cologne, which he picked up on the battlefield of Ypres. The soldier naturally valued the knife for its associations, but as a military curio its worth was no more than that of a second-hand, much used, pocket-knife since he could in no way prove how he found it.

For the sake of method, we have grouped the miscellaneous curios with which we shall deal under certain heads, the first of which is "Battlefield Souvenirs."

These trophies of war are, of course, full of interest; the present conflict has given us a good many specimens such as Prussian helmets, German infantry caps, and shells of various calibre. They should all be highly prized as long as they are in good condition and their identity can be established.

There are many interesting battlefield souvenirs to be seen in the Royal United Service Museum. One is the railway-station board from Tel-el-Kebir, which stood in the midst of the fighting on September 13, 1882, when the British, 17,000 strong, attacked and stormed Arabi's entrenchments defended by 22,000 Egyptians.

Another is a leaden ball found on the spot where Major-General James Wolfe received his mortal wound on the Plains of Abraham at the taking of Quebec, 1759.

A third souvenir is a grape shot found on an embankment on the Island of Capri, and believed to have been one of those used by the French in the siege of the island. Capri, it may be said, was held by the British under Sir Hudson Lowe from 1806 to 1808. In the latter year, King Murat of Naples sent a force of French troops, under General Lemarque, to besiege the island, and took it after thirteen days' siege.

Yet another souvenir which may be described as from the battlefield is an officer's memorandum book. Captain F. W. Lyons, of the South Staffordshire Regiment, had this book in his breast-pocket whilst attacking the stockade on the Tumbiling River, in Penang, in 1904, when it was struck by a bullet with no worse result to Captain Lyons than a severe bruise on the chest.

A fifth exhibit is a piece of the gate of Hougomont, which was riddled with bullets during the fighting at Waterloo.

The last to be mentioned here is a gun used in Mafeking during the siege. This gun, so the description added to the exhibit runs, was made in the railway workshops at Mafeking during the siege. The core is a steel steam-pipe, round which were lapped bars of iron, which were hammered and turned into their present condition. The trunnions and breech are castings of brass. For the castings, a blast furnace was improvised out of an iron water-tank lined with fire-bricks, the draught being forced through the pipe of a vacuum brake off a railway carriage.

The shells of the gun were similarly cast, and were loaded with powder, and exploded by a slow match which was ignited by the flame of the discharge. The powder was also manufactured in Mafeking.

On one occasion the breech blew out, and was repaired and fixed with the stout iron holding-bands which may be seen connecting the breech to the trunnion-block. The gun was nicknamed "The Wolf" after Colonel Baden-Powell, whose nickname this was among the people of the North.

Regimental Colours.—Under this heading a number of most interesting relics of the battlefield may be grouped. It is true that specimens are never available for the private collector of military curios, but as most cathedrals and many museums possess examples, we cannot pass them over without some mention.

The Royal United Service Museum houses a score or more of these trophies of war, but probably the most attractive are the following:—

1. Drapeau du 52^e RÉgiment, formerly Le RÉgiment la FÉre, formed in 1654, taken at Bastia, 1794. It is one of the earliest French colours known to be in existence. It is white, with a tri-colour of blue, white, and red in the upper canton, showing that it belonged to the 1st Battalion. It has also a tri-colour border of blue, white, and red on either of the three edges.

2. Drapeau des Volontaires du DÉpartement de la Corse, 1791-4. Also taken at Bastia in 1794. It is a tri-colour of blue, white, and red, the blue being on the top, and then the colours white and red. On the one side, within a wreath, are the words "Viver, Liber. I. O. Morire," in gold, evidently the Corsican patois for "Je meurs pour vivre libre," and on the reverse "Republica Francese."

3. A guidon of the 62nd Regiment, 1812, taken in Wellington's victory over the French at Salamanca. It was brought home and laid at the feet of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent by Captain Lord Clinton, 16th Light Dragoons, Aide-de-camp to the Earl of Wellington.

4. A quartette of guidons of the 23rd Light Dragoons, circa 1803-15, believed to have led the regiment in its celebrated charge at Talavera in 1809. The regiment was in Anson's brigade, which was ordered by Sir Arthur Wellesley to attack Villatte's Division, and the 23rd, starting at a canter and increasing their speed as they advanced, rode headlong against the enemy, but in a few minutes came upon the brink of a hollow cleft, which was not perceptible at a distance. The regiment plunged down without a check, men and horses rolling over each other in dreadful confusion. The survivors mounted the opposite bank, by twos and threes, and rallying passed through the midst of Villatte's columns, which poured in a fire from each side, and fell upon a brigade of French chasseurs in the rear. The combat was fierce, but short; for fresh troops came up when the 23rd, already overmatched, could scarcely hold up against the chasseurs. The regiment lost two hundred and seven men and officers, or about half the number that went into action.

The facings of the regiment being crimson the first guidon was, as usual, of that hue. For distinction's sake, though hardly in accordance with the regulations, the other guidons were blue. It is impossible to decide with exact certainty the date when they were made, but probably soon after the regiment was renumbered, in 1803.[32]

Odds and Ends of Dress Equipment.—Of curios coming within this class the collector should be able to gather quite an abundance of valuable material, ranging from, say, Royalist powder-flasks to the sashes worn by celebrated soldiers on historic occasions. The Royal United Service Museum, that treasure-house of military curios, has the following interesting exhibits worthy of mention under this head:—

1. The dress worn by Tippoo Sahib, Sultan of Mysore, during the Siege of Seringapatam, in 1799. It is thickly padded with leather, and the head-dress, which has the appearance of green velvet, is in reality a very effective helmet.

2. A cavalry cloak which belonged to Captain Nolan, 15th Hussars, who fell in the charge at Balaklava. Captain Nolan was A.D.C. to the Quartermaster-General, when he conveyed to Brigadier-General the Earl of Cardigan the famous order for the Charge of the Light Brigade.

3. An officer's silk sash used in supporting Sir John Moore when carried in a blanket from the battlefield of CoruÑa to the Citadel after he was mortally wounded on January 16, 1809.

4. A civilian's hat worn by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, who commanded the Third Division at the Battle of Vittoria, June 21, 1813, when the French army was totally defeated by the allied armies. He wore the civilian head-dress owing to inflammation of the eyes.

5. A saddle used by Field-Marshal Prince BlÜcher von Wahlstadt at the Battle of Waterloo.

6. An umbrella of King Prempeh, who was taken prisoner by the British troops under Colonel Sir Francis Scott at Coomassie in 1896. The umbrella was presented to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria.[33]

Books and Newspapers of Military Interest.—In this class quite a wide range of matter is to be found. Books on military subjects containing fine illustrations, especially when coloured, are always valuable, and if more than seventy or eighty years old are never likely to depreciate in worth. When the illustrations depict army dress or refer to implements of warfare, the books should be especially prized. Volumes having for the subjects the descriptions of battles or accounts of tactics are, however, not sought for, as a rule. The Army List must not be forgotten. Early copies—the first appeared in 1814—are eagerly snapped up whenever offered for sale—as many soldiers of rank endeavour to secure complete sets of them.

Newspapers containing news of special military interest are worth obtaining. The issues of The Times which tell of the successes of Trafalgar and Waterloo are notoriously valuable, but the reprinted copies must not be mistaken for the original leaflets. There is, of course, no need to confine one's collection to copies of The Times. In this matter, the news contained by the journal is more to be considered than the dignity of the journal itself.

Royal Souvenirs.—In the time of Waterloo the soldier in the ranks received few of the little considerations which we now feel are the hero's just reward. Tommy was paid for his work and there the matter ended. To-day, however, the position has changed. We, who stay at home, can hardly think enough of those who are fighting our battles: such is the spirit shown by every one from the King down to the humblest citizen living within the realm. With such a feeling abroad it is not to be wondered at that members of the Royal Family have, in recent times, made little presents to our fighting men, knowing full well how much the recipients will treasure them. Under this heading we may mention the Queen Victoria chocolate tin which the late Queen gave to soldiers in the Boer War, the chocolate or tobacco tin which Princess Mary presented, full of good things, to the soldiers during Christmas, 1914, and lastly the Christmas card which the King and Queen sent to the fighting men on land and sea at the same festive season. These and all such souvenirs are, of course, to be highly prized by the collector.

Official Military Documents.—Undoubtedly a good many documents of a military bearing are to be found if collectors only know where to search for them. The more important papers, such as plans of battlefields and commanders' messages, are naturally prized by those who own them, but there is a wide field for the collector among the documents of lesser importance. Within this class we should include all kinds of official correspondence, passports to enter fortified towns, passes to enable journalists to penetrate beyond certain lines, and proclamations, printed and otherwise. It will thus be seen that the scope of the collection is almost without limit.

A good many treasures coming under this head are to be found in the Whitehall museum, already spoken of. Two are worthy of special notice. The first is a pass issued to Lieutenant J. Whiteley, 9th Foot, when a French prisoner of war at Verdun, dated December 30, 1812. It runs as follows:—

"Place de Verdun.
Permission de Sortir de la Place.

Il est permit À Mr. Whitley, Prisonnier de Guerre de sortir de la Place par les portes, ChaussÉe de Metz, À condition de rentrer chaque jour avant leur fermeture.

La prÉsente permission est pour lui seul. Verdun, 30 DÉcembre, 1812.

Le Commandant du dÉpÔt des Prisonniers
de Guerre Anglais."
(Signature illegible.)

The above is interesting in so much as it enables us to gather that those who were unfortunate enough to be taken prisoner by the French were treated as men of honour and with as few irksome restrictions as possible. The second treasure is a map of the theatre of war (the Waterloo Campaign, 1815) saturated with the blood of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, who was killed during the battle. The map was taken from the pocket of his coattee on the following morning by his servant, Henry Barnes.

So far we have marshalled our curios under certain more or less convenient headings, but some of them refuse all attempts at classification; they are no less attractive on this account, however.

Were we to reserve a space for gruesome relics, the following exhibit, to be seen in the Royal United Service Museum, would certainly deserve mention. It is the King of Ashanti's execution bowl, which formed part of the spoils taken from Prempeh by the expedition under Colonel Sir Francis Scott in 1896. The bowl, which is of brass, resembles an ordinary bath-tub in appearance and size, and is about five feet in diameter. On the rim are four small lions and a number of knobs, evidently intended as an ornamentation, and would appear to be of Moorish origin. There is a gap in the continuity of knobs to allow a space for the victim to insert his neck preparatory to execution. The bowl was fully described by Bowdich in his account of Ashanti in 1817. Coomassie, where the bowl was taken, means the City of Death; it possessed three places of execution—one at the palace for private executions, one on the parade ground for public executions, and a third, named Bantama, where the bowl was found, for fetish sacrifices. Any great public occasion was seized upon as an excuse for human sacrifice, such as the harvest festival, at which large numbers of victims were offered.

The King also went every quarter to pay homage to the shade of his ancestors at Bantama, and on each occasion the death of twenty men over the great bowl was demanded. The blood of the victims was allowed to putrefy in the bowl, the leaves of certain herbs being added; it was considered a very valuable fetish medicine. King Prempeh was accustomed to watching the sacrifices seated in a chair with the Queen-Mother seated on a stool on his left, being sheltered from the sun by a large umbrella.[34]

Before concluding this chapter on miscellaneous curios, it may be well to give a list of suggested objects, bearing on the Great War, which might be reasonably included in a collection of war mementoes and relics:—

Blue-books and similar official correspondence, both British and foreign. Copies of newspapers containing accounts of the outstanding incidents of the war. Photographs of the greater events, i.e. the
sinking of the BlÜcher. Recruiting posters. Posters describing hostile and friendly aircraft. Printed proclamations. Letters from soldiers at the front. War postage stamps, including the various Red Cross stamps. The King and Queen's Christmas card to the soldiers. Princess Mary's chocolate box. Various kinds of ammunition used by the Allies and the enemy. Aeroplane darts. Permits given to journalists to enter the various battle zones. Official stamps of the Press Censor. Cartoons from Punch. Paper money issued owing to the hostilities. Portions of uniforms, i.e. Prussian helmets, buttons and badges of British and foreign soldiers. Souvenirs made by interned soldiers. Toys constructed by Belgian refugees, and composite flags made by combining the devices of the various allies.