Unusually shaped red catlinite pipe with a cut-through heart, 3.125 x 2.875 x .875 in., inscribed on one side, Presented to C.D. Newton, By E.D. Keyes. The consignor relates that the item was acquired at the Brimfield Antique Show from a Massachusetts dealer who said he had purchased the pipe from a Brimfield, MA estate and that it had previously belonged to an "army officer who fought Indians." Research suggests that the pipe's original owner, E.D. Keyes, may have been noted Union General Erasmus Darwin Keyes. Erasmus Darwin Keyes (1810–95) graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1832, tenth in his class, and after graduation, he was sent with the US 3rd Artillery Regiment around Cape Horn to California. He served on the Pacific frontier on garrison duty and participated in American Indian campaigns in the Northwest. Promoted to the rank of major in October 1858, Keyes returned to Washington, DC near the end of 1859 and became General Winfield Scott's military secretary from January until April 1861. During the first year of the Civil War, Keyes successfully led a battalion in the First Battle of Bull Run, was appointed to command a division in the Army of the Potomac, and was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. In 1862 he was appointed to command the newly formed Fourth Corps. As a corps commander, he participated in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 and was promoted to major general of volunteers. Keyes was later promoted to brigadier general in the regular army for his actions at the Battle of Fair Oaks. Keyes was relieved of his command after an unsatisfactory performance in the Gettysburg Campaign in 1863. He subsequently served on various boards and commissions, including the board for retiring disabled officers from July 1863, until his resignation and retirement from the army in May 1864, with 32 years of continued military service. (Information obtained from the World Digital Library, LOC, October 10, 2016.) HDS lists a Private Charles Newton who served in the same regiment as Keyes, although we cannot confirm that this is the same soldier referenced on the presentation pipe. Condition: Some surface scratching and residue from use.
Unusually shaped red catlinite pipe with a cut-through heart, 3.125 x 2.875 x .875 in., inscribed on one side, Presented to C.D. Newton, By E.D. Keyes. The consignor relates that the item was acquired at the Brimfield Antique Show from a Massachusetts dealer who said he had purchased the pipe from a Brimfield, MA estate and that it had previously belonged to an "army officer who fought Indians." Research suggests that the pipe's original owner, E.D. Keyes, may have been noted Union General Erasmus Darwin Keyes. Erasmus Darwin Keyes (1810–95) graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1832, tenth in his class, and after graduation, he was sent with the US 3rd Artillery Regiment around Cape Horn to California. He served on the Pacific frontier on garrison duty and participated in American Indian campaigns in the Northwest. Promoted to the rank of major in October 1858, Keyes returned to Washington, DC near the end of 1859 and became General Winfield Scott's military secretary from January until April 1861. During the first year of the Civil War, Keyes successfully led a battalion in the First Battle of Bull Run, was appointed to command a division in the Army of the Potomac, and was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. In 1862 he was appointed to command the newly formed Fourth Corps. As a corps commander, he participated in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 and was promoted to major general of volunteers. Keyes was later promoted to brigadier general in the regular army for his actions at the Battle of Fair Oaks. Keyes was relieved of his command after an unsatisfactory performance in the Gettysburg Campaign in 1863. He subsequently served on various boards and commissions, including the board for retiring disabled officers from July 1863, until his resignation and retirement from the army in May 1864, with 32 years of continued military service. (Information obtained from the World Digital Library, LOC, October 10, 2016.) HDS lists a Private Charles Newton who served in the same regiment as Keyes, although we cannot confirm that this is the same soldier referenced on the presentation pipe. Condition: Some surface scratching and residue from use.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
