Early on the morning of October 19, 1864, Pvt. John W. Ettinger, Company G, 87th Pennsylvania Infantry, went into battle in what became known as the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Ettinger would end that day severely wounded in the face and eye area, which caused blindness for the rest of his life. Ettinger and later his family kept all of the items that he was wearing or were in his possession that day, and the original of this handkerchief is among those items. This handkerchief is 100% cotton and measures 15.5 x 15 inches, so is one of the smaller handkerchiefs in our offerings. We are pleased to be offering this piece of American Civil War material culture and thank the owner of this collection for allowing us to reproduce this handkerchief.
