Description

Very fine example of a non-excavated, Union enlisted man’s stencil.  The soldier’s name, regiment and company are die stamped into the sheet brass stencil, as follows: “ROBERT RAND 13TH N.H.V.I. CO K.”  The sheet brass of the stencil is folded over, on all four sides, on an edging piece of sheet lead, for reinforcement. The stencil remains in excellent condition; the brass shows that it was used by Private Rand several times, as the ink staining is quite evident. The stencil measures approximately as follows: Length – 2.75”; Width – 1.5.”  Robert Rand was a resident of Portsmouth NH; 45 years old. He enlisted on 8/22/1862 as a Private.  On 9/20/1862 he mustered into “K” Co. NH 13th Infantry.  He was discharged for disability on 5/24/1863 at Fort Monroe, VA.  Other Information: born in Hadleigh, England, died 1/13/1865.  Buried: Harmony Grove Cemetery, Portsmouth, NH.

Excerpt from “Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion 1861 – 1865; A Diary Covering Three Years and A Day” by S. Millett Thompson (published in 1888): “A squad of four men – Hosp. Steward R.B. Prescott, Privates Chas. W. Green of B, Henry C. Howard of E, and Robert Rand of K – are left behind on the Maryland shore, to guard the regimental baggage, and suffer extremely from the cold. There are but three matches in the possession of the party. Two of these are lighted only to be blown out by the wind; if the third fails the party will freeze. By using the utmost care they succeed in kindling a small fire, which they keep burning as there is no wood on the bare plain, only by means of leaves and twigs found by scraping away the snow. Over this wretched little fire they huddle together all night, in the vain endeavor to keep warm. ‘Tis next to impossible to sleep, even if it be not suicide to allow sleeping at all. And so they brave the night out; while the water in the canteens at their sides freezes to solid ice. The intense cold causes them to crowd so close to the fire that the clothing and blankets of all are burned and Prescott’s boots are ruined. “