Antique Civil War Soldier's Bandanna c. 1860s Handkerchief Stamped Union Private

Woodblock-printed handkerchief with stenciled name and rank of soldier / cotton / c. The black ink stencil reading. His woodblock-printed cotton handkerchief belonged to Private Norman Hastings of Franklin, Massachusetts.

Hastings was a 29-yeard-old married farmer from Franklin, MA when he volunteered for service in the 45th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The 45th was also known as the "Cadet Regiment" because more than forty of the regimental and company officers were former members of Boston's Independent Corps of Cadets. The 45th was a 9-month regiment organized, fitted out, and brought to strength at Camp Meigs in Readville, MA. Hastings enlisted on September 15, 1862 in Company C. The first eight companies (A through H) of the 45th were mustered into Federal service on September 26, 1862, with the last two (I and K) mustering on October 7. The regiment remained at Camp Meigs for nearly another month completing its organization and training. On November 5, it departed from Boston on the steam "Mississippi" headed for Morehead City, North Carolina, to reinforce the Union occupation of North Carolina. On arrival at Morehead City on November 14, the 45th Regiment was attached to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Department of North Carolina. The regiment was sent by rail about 35 miles NW to Newberne where it went into camp on the banks of the Trent River near Fort Spinola. In mid-June 1863, the regiment was moved back to Morehead City because its tour of duty was coming to a close. On June 24, 1863 the 45th Regiment embarked for Boston on the steamer S. Hastings died at sea on June 27 from disease, likely dysentery. He probably contracted the illness in the swamps of North Carolina as a result of poor sanitary conditions, and a soldier's irregular nutrition and the limited medical treatment available to him surely worsened his condition. Sixty percent of Union casualties some 225,000 men would die not in battle, but from disease.

The 45th Regiment was mustered out July 8, 1863 and over its nine-month term of service, the 45th lost 19 enlisted men who were killed or mortally wounded in battle and 32 who died of disease. Hastings was three days from disembarking on his home state soil when he died. He was thirty years old. Norman Hastings is buried in Bellingham, MA.

Please note: The photograph of Hastings provided is a digital copy I found in my research. Excellent antique condition with minor discolorations from many years in storage. For more pleasing and peculiar objects, follow "oldasadam" on Instagram and Facebook.

And if you find yourself in New England, be sure to visit my brick and mortar store in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The item "Antique Civil War Soldier's Bandanna c.

1860s Handkerchief Stamped Union Private" is in sale since Tuesday, December 11, 2018. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Militaria\Civil War (1861-65)\Original Period Items\Uniforms". The seller is "oldasadam" and is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica, Viet nam.

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