U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chapeau du Bras hat in original Horstmann Brothers tin storage box, the headgear fashioned from black silk with gold wire bullion fringe with feather trim and applied brass Federal eagle insignia and E.S. Saylor Army Corps of Engineer button. Hat approx. 17" wide. Box - 19" x 6" x 3 1/2". 19th century. Note: This hat and case have descended in the family of Eben Eveleth Winslow (1866-1928), who continued his family's tradition of patriotic service through his distinguished career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Unlike his famous grandfather, Rear Admiral John Ancrum Winslow, and his short-lived father, Paymaster William R. Winslow (1844-1869), 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 earlier this year. Many of the family's historic possessions were also dispersed, including this lot, which is one of several related items in this auction. This lot will include a copy of a notarized provenance letter from the direct descendant of General Winslow.

Both hat and box exhibit considerable wear. The hat is in fragile condition with losses to black silk and to feathers.