Ross and Company made "Isaac and Campbell" English Knapsack
Captured at the Siege of Vicksburg
Up for sale is a very rare British imported knapsack that was sub-contracted by Ross and Co. Even more exceptional, is that this item was captured by John H .Hoffman of Co. F of the 42nd Ohio Inf. (President Garfield's unit) after the Siege of Vicksburg! The 42nd was in close proximity of the 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry whom where issued these packs according to Craig Barry's, "Suppliers of The Supplier to the Confederacy Series." The knapsack has Hoffman's information, and he documents the item as being taken after the surrender, when Gen. Grant required all CS equipment be turned over. This might be the only documented knapsack from the battle!
This is merely speculation, but CS troops were required to turn over all their equipment following the surrender, everything except the clothes on their backs (as mentioned by Gen. Grant in his memoirs). Hoffman was drafted when he was 38 years old as a Private into Co. F on 10/11/1862, and mustered out on 7/6/1863 at Camp Alice, MS. The pack is in fine condition with the original hard wooden frame!
GIRARD - A piece of American history was rediscovered when auctioneers found a Civil War knapsack belonging to a Deerfield man in the attic of a Girard home being prepared for sale. Marshall, made the find while sorting an estate for an auction. After finding the knapsack, Marshall discovered an inscription under the flap that it was owned by a Civil War veteran, Deerfield resident John H. Hoffman.
"I was kind of shocked because there was nothing else in the house that would make you think 'Wow, I bet I'd find something from the Civil War here,'" Marshall said Friday night. "(The knapsack) was in an old wooden box in the attic that was literally filled with scrap material and some old board games." Through further research, it was discovered that Hoffman had moved to Deerfield with his wife and children before joining the Union war effort in 1862. Hoffman's company participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bluffs, Arkansas Post, Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge and the siege of Vicksburg. Hoffman was honorably discharged after the siege of Vicksburg.
$ SOLD (On display at the Chattanooga History Center)