Civil War Duryée's Zouaves Group
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GUEST:
I brought my great-grandfather's Civil War uniform. These are articles related to his service.
APPRAISER:
And who did he serve with?
GUEST:
He was with the 5th New York, which is also known as Duryee's Zouaves.
APPRAISER:
In April 1861, a wealthy Manhattan lumber merchant, Abram Duryee, formed the regiment of Zouaves. Zouave regiments patterned their uniforms after the French Zouaves. And we notice it has a real flair to it. A fez... the small, short coat. How long did he serve?
GUEST:
He served for two years, it was a two-year regiment. He mustered in spring of '61 and mustered out after Chancellorsville in '63.
APPRAISER:
Well, during the war, most of the regiments had standard uniforms. These guys considered themselves elite. And they liked having something that was different than everybody else, which is why they wore this style of uniform. Did he serve again?
GUEST:
Yes, he reenlisted in 1865 and served until '68, was discharged from Fort Laramie in Wyoming.
APPRAISER:
And was he in regular Army then?
GUEST:
Yeah, he was in the 4th Regulars.
APPRAISER:
Okay. And that's probably why we have this coat today. When he mustered out, we notice he has the chevrons on the sleeves. What rank's that?
GUEST:
He's a corporal.
APPRAISER:
There you go. So we know he would have put this coat in the closet. When he enlisted in '64, being regular Army, he would have had a regular Army uniform.
GUEST:
Right. Saved this one.
APPRAISER:
It's one of the few that survive. It's one of the tougher coats to find in collecting. And it's pretty. It's one of those, when you look at it, you're like, that's real. We've got his coat, his fez, and we have a few other things. We have his discharge paper. These are reproductions of his service records. After the war, these guys were really proud of their service. They had veterans' organizations where they would have reunions. He was a member of the G.A.R., the Grand Army of the Republic, and this is his membership medal. It has the membership medal on a lapel pin. You could order these badges, they call them ladder badges, and you can order them in the back of the veterans' magazines. And the more you wanted to pay, the more rungs they put on your ladder. It's pretty, and being that regiment makes a lot of difference. Because it is one of the most famous of all New York regiments. As a group, it's something that, if it were my family, I would want to insure the group for about $16,000.
GUEST:
Yeah, I thought it would be worth quite a bit. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
The coat and hat are about $15,000, and then we have about $1,000 worth of other pieces to go with it.
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