Lead bullet encased in gold acorn fob with chain. Finely engraved: "W.D. Fiske / 14th Regt. C V / Fredericksburg / Dec 17, 1863." Acorn approx. 1 1/2 x 1 in. Overall length 6 1/2 in.

Published in "Heroes for all Time: Connecticut Civil War Soldiers Tell Their Stories" (2015, By Dione Longley & Buck Zaidel).

One of the most intimate relics of the Civil War Era, a lead bullet removed from Sergeant Wilbur D. Fiske of the 14th Connecticut Infantry after suffering a "frightful wound" at the battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. As Fiske and his comrades charged the stone wall at Marye's Heights, a Confederate soldier stopped him with a slug to the chest. A Union surgeon hastily extracted this bullet from the cavity at a field hospital, then sewed him up and sent him behind the lines to a proper hospital to recover.

Fisk survived and kept the bullet. He returned to his regiment and shouldered a musket for just under another year before Rebel lead found him again at Bristoe Station, Virginia. Though he survived, this second wound ended his service. Following his discharge Fiske brought the Fredericksburg bullet to a jeweler, who encased it in an engraved gold fob and watch chain. This attractive piece is a truly rare reminder of a soldier's frightful brush with death.

While certainly unusual, the practice was not entirely unheard of: occasionally, other Civil War veterans kept the bullets that struck them as mementoes of their sacrifice. A few of these men took the extra step of transforming the projectiles that almost killed them into something hauntingly beautiful.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Relics, Bullets, Jewelry, Ephemera]