Pair of silver goblets. American. 19th century. H. 6 1/2 in. Weights 7.2 and 7.4 oz. Engraved with a lighthouse and the monogram "MAS". 

Provenance: Major Frederick Waugh Smith, thus by descent to Virginia E. Marting (letter of provenance, August 1984); William "Bill" A. Turner Collection. 

Publication: Ronald S. Coddington. Faces of the Confederacy: An Album of Southern Soldiers and Their Stories​​​​​. (2008). 

On 30 July 1864, Confederate troops tore their way through Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in a retaliatory raid. Among the Confederate raiders was 1st Lt. Frederick Waugh Smith.

The son of Virginia Governor and Confederate General William "Extra Billy" Smith, Frederick secured an appointment to West Point. The news, however, came on the brink of secession, and Smith declined the position, stating: "like any other good Southerner I was utterly averse to receiving favors from a Government on the eve of becoming bitterly hostile to my own people.” (Smith to President Jefferson Davis, 9 August 1861. Smith military service records NARS). He instead entered the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), but abandoned his studies to enlist in the 49th Virginia Infantry, serving under his father, "Extra Billy", at the outbreak of war. 

Frederick advanced through the ranks, reaching promotion to Sergeant Major. The regiment saw heavy action throughout the Eastern Theater, including the Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, where Frederick was wounded. In the spring of 1863, his father was promoted to brigadier general, and Frederick, in turn, was appointed his aide-de-camp with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Together, they fought at Gettysburg. After his father left the army to serve as Governor of Virginia, he joined Colonel John S. Mosby's Rangers. 

In the 1984 letter of provenance from Virginia E. Marting, she relates the family lore regarding the goblets: "My grandfather related that these goblets had been presented to him at Chambersburg. He had been ordered to set fire and destroy the city and dwellings. On his own initiative, he ordered his men to remove the family treasures from a beautiful home first. The lady of the house was so touched by his gallantry that she said, 'Sir, you have won your spurs' and handed him the goblets from the collection. When he returned to the family home in Warrenton, Va., he gave the goblets to his sister, Mary Amelia, whose initials were subsequently engraved thereon." 

This tale is investigated in depth by Ronald S. Coddington in Faces of the Confederacy (2008): "  A Chambersburg minister told a different story. According to Rev. Benjamin Schneck, Smith and a squad of cavalrymen targeted “Norland,” the stately home of Alexander K. McClure, a prominent Keystone State Republican. Smith found McClure’s wife quite ill, informed her that her home would be burned, and “stated that she should have ten minutes to get the family out of the house and away; and to prove his sincerity he at once fired the house on each story. He then plundered “Norland” of valuables, including McClure’s gold watch and the two goblets Smith later claimed to be gifts." (Coddington, p. 168-171; Schneck, The Burning of Chambersburg, pp. 19-21).  

A remarkable set of goblets. 

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