Civil War Memorabilia on Auction

Thursday, January 25th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” John M. Bracken has spent 40 years assembling a vast collection of Civil War artifacts that includes weapons, uniforms, photos, flags and even band instruments.

It's almost as if he had walked across smoldering battlefields to gather the debris of conflict.

Now, he's ready to give it all up â€” for a price.

The New Market, Va., collector's memorabilia was to be sold Thursday in an auction described by one Civil War authority as ``once in a lifetime.'' For aficionados, it could well be that â€” offering rare visual and physical links to events of 140 years ago, some well-documented by historians, others known only to a few careful descendants.

``I've enjoyed it, but I'd rather sell it now, when I have control of selling it, and let someone else enjoy it,'' Bracken said as workers put rifles, letters, canteens, paintings and a myriad of other items into glass cases at the New York Historical Society, where the auction will take place.

The sale is being run by Guernsey's, a New York auction house that specializes in ``unique and rare'' 20th century objects, according to its president, Arlan Ettinger. Guernsey's conducted a 1998 auction of John F. Kennedy memorabilia, and sold a Mark McGwire home run ball the next year for $3 million.

``What's good about all this is that there's nothing duplicated,'' said Bracken, 58. ``About 503 pieces, all different. These are things that you can't just go out and get.''

The collection also includes items from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Mexican and Spanish-American wars.

``One of the most unusual aspects of the Bracken collection is its its comprehensiveness,'' said historian William C. Davis, who has written more than 40 books on the South and the Civil War.

A naval cannon has a suggested price of $25,000, a Confederate surgeon's tools are valued at $10,000 to $15,000, and a pair of spurs worn by Brig. Gen. George Custer is offered at $8,000 to $12,000. Scores of smaller items â€” cannon balls, belt plates, tin cups, playing cards â€” have pre-sale prices starting at $200.

But Ettinger said the sale is unreserved, with no minimum prices even on such major items as Confederate President Jefferson Davis' matched pair of Remington pistols, and the personal sword of Gen. ``Fighting Joe'' Hooker, who briefly commanded the Union Army.

Bracken, whose father was an antiques dealer, said his collecting habit began in childhood and grew into full-time buying and trading military memorabilia â€” made easier by living in northern Virginia towns steeped in colonial and Civil War history.

``I'm predisposed toward the Confederacy, because I had people there, but they were all Americans and they all believed in what they were doing,'' he said.

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On the Net:

Guernsey's: http://www.guernseys.com