Group of 7 American military uniform items (12 pieces), including epaulettes, shoulder straps, belt, sword hanger and hat cord, belonging to U.S. Army Brig. General Eben Eveleth Winslow and to his father, Paymaster William Randolph Winslow, U.S. Navy. Includes four (4) pairs of epaulettes and shoulder straps: one pair of two (2) Navy paymaster shoulder straps with anchor insignia, Hillborn Hamburger maker's mark printed in gilt to undersides; one pair of two (2) Army Corps of Engineer braided cord and black fabric epaulettes with pierced metal ornament depicting a castle facade and bouillon loops encircling a button with Seal of the United States; one pair of two (2) braided cord epaulettes with bouillon loops and applied leaf; and one pair of two (2) black fabric shoulder boards with cord leaf forms and border. Epaulettes/shoulder straps range in size from 4 1/4" H x 1 5/8" W to 7 3/8" H x 4 1/4" W. Also includes one (1) metal epaulettes box with slide lock (2 5/8" H x 6 3/4" W x 2 3/4" D), along with one (1) leather and brass belt (19" L), one (1) gold braid sword hanger cord (approx. 11" L), and one (1) gold braid hat cord (approx. 15" L); all Army Corps of Engineers. All items late 19th century. All items are believed to have belonged to U.S. Army Brig. General Eben Eveleth Winslow except for the Navy Paymaster shoulder straps, believed to have belonged to William Randolph Winslow (1844-1869), who died of scarlet fever at the age of 25 when his son E.E. Winslow was only 3 years old. Eben Eveleth Winslow (1866-1928) grew up to continue his family's tradition of patriotic service through his distinguished career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Unlike his father and famous grandfather, Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow, commander of the USS Kearsarge, E.E. Winslow was an army man. He graduated first in his class from The United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1889 and received his commission as a second lieutenant of engineers. He served with Company B of the Battalion of Army Engineers stationed at Ft. Totten, NY, constructed harbor defenses in the Port of Mobile in Alabama and was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1894. He served on the West Point faculty as assistant instructor of practical military engineering prior to joining Company E, Battalion of Engineers for service in the Spanish American War. He took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill and was afterward promoted to Captain in 1898. Winslow's work with river and harbor fortifications took him to Wilmington, NC, Norfolk, VA, and Memphis, Tennessee, where he met and married the novelist and poet Anne Goodwin Winslow. In 1906 he was assigned to the Washington Barracks as commandant of the United States Army Engineer School and commander of the post. He received a promotion to major in 1906 and to assistant to the Chief of Engineers in 1907. He went on to command harbor and river fortifications in Oahu, Hawaii and the Panama Canal zone, was promoted to Colonel in 1917 and to temporary Brigadier General in 1917. His service during World War I earned him the Army Distinguished Service Medal. Following the end of the war, Winslow returned to his permanent rank of colonel. After working for awhile on the coastal fortifications of San Francisco Bay, he retired to Memphis, where he and his wife had taken residence at her ancestral home, which came to be known as Goodwinslow. He died there in 1928 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In 1930, the U.S. Congress passed legislation allowing the general officers of World War I to retire at their highest rank and Winslow was posthumously promoted to brigadier general on the retired list. Goodwinslow remained in the family of E.E. and Anne Winslow's direct descendants until it was sold in the Spring of 2023, along with many of the items in this auction, including this lot.

PROVENANCE: Private Tennessee collection, acquired from Winslow family descendant in March, 2023.

CONDITION: All epaulettes with scattered discoloration, surface grime, and minute fraying commensurate with age. Epaulettes with castle insignia have loss of black fabric en verso measuring 2 3/8" x 1 1/8". Epaulettes box with oxidation and wear throughout, commensurate with age. Belt and cords with minute scattered verdigris and wear commensurate with age.