"Which Park or Museum Should this be donated to?" Topic

I have a Civil War canteen worn by a Union soldier of the 6th Vermont Vol. from the Yorktown campaign, the battle of Mills Springs. The bullet that killed my relative went through the canteen.

Just need some suggestions of which would best cover that particular campaign.

Thanks

Perhaps the NPS Museum at Mill Springs Battlefield- nps.gov/misp/index.htm

Vermont also have a couple of Museums that might be interested
link
or
vt.public.ng.mil/Museum

Mills Springs Battlefield Museum would be a nice place.

Are you sure that you want to part with something that has such a family heritage?

Family heirloom. Don't part with it. I would love to have an heirloom or something from my ancestors during the revolution, civil war, etc. Your relative's canteen is a reminder and remnant of the story of a family member who should be honored for his sacrifice. Keep it and show to other members of your family, especially the younger members.

Agree with Buck215.
To a museum, it's just a canteen with a hole in it. They have access to thousands of those.
To your family, it's a reminder of actual sacrifice.

What would be cool to do is mount it in a display box or wall display frame, with the story and name of the deceased relative who bore it. Then pass box and canteen on to another family member.

i agree. It is (IMO) important family heritage.

The museum option should be a destination of last resort in the event that no heirs exist to pass it along to or none are interested in keeping it within the family and honoring it.

Strictly my opinion, of course.

B

+1 Parzival, and, not necessarily for display, add a copy of your family tree, so that later generations, who might not have the same surname, can see how the are related to the canteen's original owner.

If you do decid4e to donate, be sure to triple check the deed of gift. Mot will say the museum can sell or trade it away as they wish. If a museum REALLY wants it they will bend their rules a lot. Often it is better to give on on an extended loan, so that if they stick it in a back room and do nothing with it, you can get it back.

You can always talk to the NPS main office and see what they say. And then there is always the Army Musuem system, which now has a pretty good inventory system that allows the museums to share items as they are called for. The problme is that most museums have set displays, and only if it was something really special, and you may have that item, will they adjust their displays for it. What I can tell you is DO NOT ever donate an item to a "private museum. No matter how well intentioned, I can tell you that some day, next week or in a number of years, they will shut down and sell everything off to the highest bidder."

I agree with keeping it or putting it "on loan" to a museum.

Before you dive off the deep end of donating the canteen to Mill Springs, you might want to do a bit more research on the 6th Vermont. From what I can find, they were not at Mill Springs. It was a part of the Vermont Brigade and fought with the Army of the Potomac. Specifically, the unit was at Lee's Mill, Williamsburg, Savage's Station, White Oak Swamp, Crampton's Gap, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Salem Church, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, among several others.

If you are of a mind to donate the canteen it might be a good idea to check with the NPS Richmond unit as they oversee most of the battlefields of the Seven Days Campaign (including Yorktown).

This is definitely not the Mill Springs Battlefield in Kentucky (January 19, 1862m several months before the fighting in the Virginia Peninsula) that comes to my mind, though I think there might have been another battle by that name.

Sound the possible recipient out about what they would do with the gift and make sure you are happy.

Actual story: A doctor from the Petersburg, Virginia area was with Terry's column in Montana in 1876 when they relieved Reno and Benteen and buried Custer's men. He brought home a feather from a Sioux or Cheyenne headdress, which was eventually donated to the Petersburg Battlefield. It was on display there when I visited back in the 1990s. It was later moved to the Little Bighorn Battlefield, where it lost its individuality as a souvenir of Custer's Last Stand and became just another feather.

Grelber

There was no Vermont regiment at the battle of Mill Springs in Kentucky, nor any from any part of New England.

Yes, it is Lees Mill. Embarrassing, but I had a mind fart last night. *Sigh*

I appreciate the suggestions. It was the Yorktown/Peninsula campaign. My G-G-G-G uncle, Austen Grout was wounded in the charge at LEES MILL, and died the next day from the wound in the hip. The canteen strap has never been adjusted. Comparing it to me, Austen couldn't have been over 5'6".

In issue 5 of the Ezine Civil War Gamer, I provided an article on Corporal Austen Austen.

link

It is an heirloom to be sure, but my sons don't want to keep it when it needs care and careful storage, only to be pulled out every once in awhile. It still has Austen's blood on it. In a museum many folks could see it every day. I have the letters from Austen and a description of his death in a letter from his younger brother, Harrison, to the family. Austen died in April of 1862, after enlisting in the 6th Vt. with his brother, in September 1861. Harrison died of cholera in July of the same year.
Less than a year they were both dead, exemplifying the causes of ACW deaths: 50% combat, 50% disease.

Now that I have identified which battle I am asking about, I would love any suggestions.

Passing it on to a museum along with a verified story – through the letters – makes it much more than just 'a canteen with a hole in it'. Not being an American, I can't suggest a particular museum, though there is presumably a Vermont State museum that would appreciate it, or be able to point you to somewhere that would.

As others have said, museums sometimes sell items that they don't need or have duplicates of, etc…

So I would be very careful going that route.

Was it your relatives canteen? Or did the bullets pad through someone else's canteen?

Whitphoto:

My relative. The bullet that killed him went through the canteen.