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Id’d Confederate Enlisted Artilleryman’s Shell Jacket – This is a superb and rare example of an early war, Confederate, enlisted artilleryman’s shell jacket, worn, at the onset of his wartime service, by Private Edwin F. Barnes, 1^st Company, Virginia Howitzers, Light Artillery – the Richmond Howitzers. Barnes initially enlisted, in Richmond, in April, 1861, in Co. H of the 15^th Virginia Infantry, transferring to the Howitzers in August, 1861. Barnes would remain in the Howitzers until the end of the war. Although this rare jacket resembles a Richmond Depot, Type III jacket, it is most likely an early war, issue jacket, briefly worn by Barnes, prior to his obtaining a Depot jacket, more commonly associated with the Richmond Howitzers; Barnes’ Richmond Depot, Howitzers’ jacket is in the collection of the American Civil War Museum, in Richmond.  The jacket listed here is constructed of a grayish brown, jean cloth and lined with an off-white, osnaburg; the exterior of the jacket is piped in artillery red, ribbed cotton or light-weave wool and has nine, two-piece, coat size, front closure, Virginia buttons – these buttons are original sews and all exhibit the pre-war, back mark: “Scovill. MFG. CO. WATERBURY.“ – the back mark is in the raised mark, depressed channel configuration. There are two pockets in the jacket – one on the exterior, lower right, lined in the same, off-white osnaburg material, as the interior lining. A second pocket is in the right interior of the jacket and is lined in blue / white, striped pillow-ticking. The lining is conspicuously stained in a rust color, perhaps from wear and resultant sweat. Additional evidence of early construction are the gathered, exterior shoulders. The coat remains in overall, excellent condition.

When we obtained the coat, it had, tucked in one of the pockets, an old, typed, file card that reads as follows:

“Confederate Artillery Shell Jacket

came with period pipe carved bowl of

soldier with bummers cap.

Reported to belong to: Corporal Edward (sic) F.

                                                             Barnes

                                          1^st Co. Richmond

                                                               Howitzers

                                                  Hardaway’s Battalion

                        2^nd Corps

                                               Confederate type trousers of the period

                                               but not found with jacket”

Research indicates that Edwin Barnes enlisted in Richmond, in late April, 1861, as a Private, in Co. H of the 15^th Va. Infantry; he transferred, in late August, 1861, to the Virginia 1^st Company Howitzers Light Artillery, where he would remain, until signing the Oath of Allegiance, in Richmond, in April, 1865. Barnes would participate in numerous engagements, during the war, which he survived, unscathed; he died, in Richmond, in 1918; he married twice – of significant interest is his first marriage to Jennie Partington, a young actress who had emigrated to Virginia, with her two sisters and parents, from England. The family, comprised of her father, John Partington, who was a confectioner, and her mother, Martha Partington, arrived in New York City, when Jennie was very young. The family soon moved to Richmond, Virginia, where Jennie and her three sisters, Mary, Katie and Sallie, performed at the old Marshall Theatre, in Richmond in a variety of plays, including many Shakespearean plays and, later, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Sallie Partington (see attached additional information about Sallie Partington) would become known as the “The Sweetheart of the Confederacy” and “The Toast of Richmond”; Sallie entertained Gen. Lee’s Army and the Confederate Cabinet, at the Richmond Theater. The Partington sisters all acted in the years prior to the war, in Richmond. Edwin Barnes apparently met Jennie Partington, in 1861 and married her; they had one child, a son, Milton Edward Barnes. Jennie may have died in childbirth, as her son, was raised by Sallie. Edwin Barnes would remarry in 1891; he lived in Richmond for the remainder of his life, at 233 Laurel St., in the Oregon Hill neighborhood; his house remains standing today.

Edwin Forrest Barnes

1st Co. Howitzers VA Light Artillery Battery

R.M. Anderson’s Company, Virginia Light Artillery (1st Company, Richmond Howitzers) – Confederate

R.M. Anderson’s Company, Virginia Light Artillery (1st Company, Richmond Howitzers) (Confederate)

Brief History

R.M. Anderson’s Company, Virginia Light Artillery (1st Company, Richmond Howitzers) (Confederate) was accepted into Confederate service in June, 1861. Its members were recruited in Richmond. Surrendered with 12 on April 9, 1865. Captains Edward S. McCarthy, William P. Palmer, and John C. Shields were in command.

1st Richmond (Virginia) Howitzers

Sallie (Sally) Partington (May 1834 – January 10, 1907) was an American Civil War era actress born in May 1834 at No. 28 High Street, Islington, England. She worked with many famous actors of the era, including John Wilkes Booth. During the American Civil War she was considered “the toast of Richmond” and was a great source of inspiration and encouragement to Confederate soldiers, ending many of her stage performances with a salute to the Confederacy. Partington was also well known for her performance in the popular Confederate play the Virginia Cavalier in which she performed the song “Southern Soldier Boy”, written by Confederate Captain G. W. Alexander.

Early life

Sallie’s family, consisting of her father, John Partington, who was a confectioner, her mother, Martha Partington, and her older sister, Mary, arrived in New York City when Sallie was very young. The family soon moved to Richmond, Virginia, where Sallie and her three sisters, Mary, Katie and Jennie, performed at the old Marshall Theatre^[3] in Richmond in a variety of plays, including many Shakespearean plays and, later, as Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Except for her theatrical travels, Sally remained in Richmond for the rest of her life.

Conspiracy theory

Sallie was one of those southerners who believed that John Wilkes Booth was never captured. She claimed to have personally seen a letter written by Booth to her good friend, Clementine DeBarr, which proved that Booth was alive. DeBarr was the second wife of Booth’s brother, Junius Brutus Booth Jr. According to the letter, Junius helped his brother escape to Australia, which, coincidentally, also happened to be the childhood home of Junius’s first wife, Marian Agnes Land Rookes, who had been born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The letter said that immediately after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Booth escaped to Australia by pawning a diamond ring to a sea captain who then arranged passage for the fugitive in a three-masted schooner. Booth ended the letter by describing his life in Australia as “peaceful”.

Sally Partington claimed that her friend was “…in constant communication with Booth” long after his supposed “death” on April 26, 1865, and that the letters proved that Booth had, indeed, escaped to Australia where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Death

Sallie Partington died in Richmond, Virginia, on January 10, 1907. At the time of her death she was living at 1111 Graham Street with her nephew, Milton Edward Barnes, and his family. Partington had raised Barnes after the death of her sister, Jennie Partington Barnes. Barnes’s eldest daughter, also named Jennie, was the grandmother of Gail Hutchins Mewes, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the contributor of this article. Mewes recalls that her grandmother remembered her famous aunt fondly and would often recount the stories her aunt had told her about being an actress during the Civil War and about her encounters with the mysterious, flirtatious, John Wilkes Booth. Sallie Partington is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond along with her mother, her sisters, her brother (who served in the Confederacy) and many famous Confederate soldiers.