Uniform Jacket of George S. Bernard

Private, Company E, 12th Virginia Infantry

George S. Bernard was born August 27, 1837 in Culpeper County to David Bernard and Elizabeth Ashby (related to General Turner Ashby and Captain Richard Manson of the 12th Virginia). He attended the University of Virginia from 1855 to 1857, and was a teacher in Essex County from 1857 to 1858. He was admitted to the bar in 1859.

Bernard enlisted in Company I, 12th Virginia at Hicksford (now Emporia) on February 22, 1862. He was wounded severely in the right leg and captured at Crampton's Gap on September 14, 1862, and was imprisoned in Fort McHenry. After being exchanged, Bernard transferred to Company E. He fought at the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864 and gave this account of that battle. As the war was drawing to a close, Bernard was wounded again at Hatcher's Run on February 6, 1865.

After the war, Bernard married Fannie Rutherford of Richmond, the daughter of a former governor of Virginia. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1877 to 1879 and as Commonwealth's Attorney for Petersburg from 1882 to 1888. Bernard died in Petersburg in 1912.

The uniform jacket in the following photographs was worn by Private Bernard during the last years of the war, and was donated to the Petersburg Siege Museum by Mrs. J. A. Nichols. The four missing buttons were made into hat pins for his daughters and two others into cuff links worn by him when he was buried. The material of the coat and lining was homespun and the coat was made by hand.

This jacket was stolen from the display at the Petersburg Siege Museum on October 30, 1978, and has not been recovered.

Click on any of the images below for a larger version. The larger versions are very detailed and may take some time to load.

Armhole (92KB)	Cuff (108KB)	Front (72KB)
Back (64KB)	Belt loop (102KB)	Right side (76KB)
Left front (98KB)	Inner cuff (64KB)

Photographs Courtesy of the Petersburg Museums

Photographs may not be distributed or published without written permission from the Petersburg Museums, 15 W. Bank St., Petersburg, VA 23803
(804) 733-2427.

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