Confederate Captured Union binoculars. Inscription etched into enamel: "July 13 1862 / Tak[en at] Murfrees / boro [Tenn by] / Forrest / J.L.Watkins". Provenance: Tennessee collection.

A pair of Federal binoculars captured by Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry forces at the First Battle of Murfreesboro, one of his earliest victories. This pair of Civil War field glasses bears the inscription etched directly into its black enamel.

In the summer of 1862, General Forrest was tasked with thwarting the Union advance on Chattanooga and was sent to that city to organize a cavalry brigade consisting of the 8th Texas, 1st Georgia, 2nd Georgia, remnants of the 1st Kentucky, and Colonel Baxter Smith's Tennessee Battalion. Leaving the city on July 9th with about 1,300-1,400 men, he decided to attack the Union supply depot along the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad at Murfreesboro on July 13. The town was garrisoned by infantry, cavalry and artillery under Gen. T.J. Crittenden, whose forces were scattered in several encampments. Forrest struck in the early morning hours, capturing pickets, overrunning Union camps and their hospital, and besieging some of the garrison in the courthouse on the town square. In a day-long fight he captured the entire garrison, much to the satisfaction of the local population, some of whom had been imprisoned in the local jail and threatened with execution. Forrest destroyed railroad tracks, telegraph lines, and Union supplies before pulling out. These binoculars were either a trophy taken from a captured officer or found in the Union camps.

The inscribed name "J.L. Watkins" could very well be James Watkins who served in Company A of the 2nd Georgia Cavalry Regiment which was serving in Forrest's brigade in 1862 and participated at Murfreesboro among many others. Unfortunately, few records of the 2nd Georgia Cavalry Regiment survive, providing us only with Watkins's company designation. Perhaps an enterprising researcher can discover further details of Watkins's time in the war.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Ephemera, Militaria, Relics]