[MILITARIA]. Charleston Light dragoon jockey helmet. Ca 1835-1840.

Visor to under comb 7 3/4 in. dragoon parade dress helmet, lacquered pasteboard body, stamped silver eagle's head helmet comb with dark blond horsehair plume, silver brim band, tarred leather visor, and leather sweatband (some soiling, tarnish to silver, sweatband and visor with expected use wear); wingspan 3 in. 1821 pattern eagle insignia superimposed on a 4 1/4 in. wide crescent helmet plate, representing South Carolina's Moultrie ("Liberty") Flag. Commissioned in 1775 by Colonel William Moultrie, the crescent moon is still featured on the present-day South Carolina flag.

The Charleston Light Dragoons were organized in 1730 and existed in the Charleston, SC community for many generations. Until the Civil War, they were primarily made up of yeomanry, gentry, and Southern quasi-aristocrats who then joined the Confederacy in March 1862. Assigned to General Hood's Cavalry, the Charleston Light Dragoons were bloodied at Beaufort, SC, Hawe's Shop, VA, and again at Bentonville, NC (19 March 1865), where they surrendered to Union forces on 26 April 1865. 


The Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann