Civil War-Era Patriotic Invitation with Post-War Remembrance A UNION PIC-NIC DARRTOWN, OHIO SATURDAY, JULY 20TH, 1861 The Day Before Bull Run! / SOLD

Description

Civil War-Era Patriotic Invitation with Post-War Remembrance

A UNION PIC-NIC DARRTOWN, OHIO SATURDAY, JULY 20TH, 1861

The Day Before Bull Run!

A poignant and beautifully preserved Civil War-period invitation, featuring elaborate scroll-embossed paper and a colored patriotic motif depicting an American flag. The cover reads “A Union Pic-Nic will be held in Dodd’s Grove, Darrtown, Ohio, on Saturday, July 20th, 1861. You are respectfully invited to attend. Managers: John W. Broadberry, J.W. Kemp, W. T. Marshall, Geo. St. Clair, J.C. Thoms. Music By Profs. Wilcox & Russell”

Includes a sentimental post-war (1888) inscribed ink note describing one attendee’s memory of the days festivities, “This Pic Nic was made for the Soldier Boys who was ready to start to the war. All Soldiers could dance free and the girls wanted to dance with them always. Minstrel Band was there by the Harte[?] boys & I.W. Bookman. And while the boys tripped the phantastic [fantastic) for few Thoms enlisted the boys for the war to the tap of the drum. Sunney Williamson was there and beat the drum no [illegible] at the Pic Nic. Men who danced there never danced again until they appeared before the great king. By I. W. B. New Year 1888”

A wonderful cherished and heartwarming piece of Civil War ephemera saved for posterity. Just a day later Sunday, July 21st, the First Battle of Bull Run would take place outside Washington D.C. at Manassas, Virginia, culminating in the next four years of bloody conflict. The soldiers who attended this Pic-Nic were ultimately all casualties of the American Civil War based on I.W.B’s account.

Inventory Number: DOC 401