Cool Civil War stuff at museum in Harwinton, Connecticut

On a cold, snowy morning in Connecticut, I made the short trek to tiny Harwinton to visit my friend Dane Deleppo, who helps run the T.A. Hungerford Memorial Library And Museum. The small, off-the-beaten path museum is stuffed from the basement to the second floor with historic memorabilia and artifacts, from a World War I gas mask and German army helmet (a "pickelhaube") to a rare War of 1812 uniform.

My aim was to check out the Civil War collection, especially anything from the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, a regiment of mostly Litchfield County residents that suffered more than 300 casualties at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 1, 1864. Through the years, Litchfield County families and others have donated artifacts to the museum, which if you blink, you may just miss if you drive too fast down two-lane Spielman Highway (State Rt. 4). Dane arrived early and thankfully turned on the heat before my 10 a.m. arrival. Armed with an iPhone 5 and curiosity, I had a blast sifting through the collections. Here's some of what I discovered:

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER VIEW.

AMBROTYPE: 19TH CONNECTICUT SOLDIER

This image is either Henry, Jerome, Morris or Lewis Munger, all of whom served in the 19th Connecticut, which mustered in in Litchfield in late July 1862 and later became the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Wearing civilian clothing and holding his kepi with his regimental designation affixed, Munger probably had this image taken shortly after he was mustered in.

REBEL FLAG FROM COLD HARBOR?

The tag on the case indicates this small Rebel battle flag is from Cold Harbor. Was it picked up from the battlefield by a soldier? Or was it made post-war and purchased at, say, a Virginia "relic" shop? I'm not a flag expert, so I will leave this to others to decide. Shoot me your thoughts in an e-mail here.

8TH CONNECTICUT SOLDIERS MEMORIAL LIST

Dane Deleppo holds an ornate descriptive list of soldiers in Company E of the 8th Connecticut. The regiment suffered 70 killed or mortally wounded -- including eight in Company E -- at the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862.(Download my Excel spreadsheet of Connecticut Antietam deaths here.) A close-up reveals the beautiful, ornate design on the poster, which lists each soldier in the company.

MUSTER ROLL FOR 13TH COLORED ARTILLERY

Lyman Catlin, who served as a private in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, was promoted to 1st lieutenant in the 13th Colored Heavy Artillery on Aug. 29, 1864. He also served as that regiment's adjutant. From Harwington, he brought the 13th Heavies' muster and descriptive roll home with him after the war. In a sad commentary of the times, next to the name of each soldier appears the name of  his owner and next to the name of the soldier's wife appears the name of her owner. Often, that was not the same person. According to Deleppo, one of Catlin's soldiers followed him back to Connecticut after the war.

2ND CONNECTICUT  HEAVY ARTILLERY RIBBONS

When veterans attended reunions of their comrades after the war, they often collected ribbons such as these, which sometimes were adorned with images of other veterans or war-time iamges of soldiers who didn't survive. I purchased this 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery ribbon on eBay during the summer.

BELDEN BROWN POST-WAR MEMORABILIA

A drummer in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Belden S. Brown of  Harwinton obtained these knicknacks at Grand Aarmy of the Republic events. The item at top was given out at the dedication of the Soldiers' And Sailors' Memorial in New Haven, Conn., in 1887