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A very nice example of an EM’s troddel for the 2nd Battalion, 7th Company. The 35cm long strap shows minimal wear with the tassel showing minimal wear.
Bayonet knots were originally introduced in the Prussian army in 1808, and continued to be worn with the Dress uniform, as a tradition and identifying item through WWI, the Weimar Republic and on into the Third Reich, with minor modifications. For enlisted personnel the main components of, strap, slide, stem, crown, and ball were woven or pleated cotton in different colors representing which unit within a regiment the wearer served. The basic regiment consisted of three Battalions with a Headquarters unit and four Companies each, with two additional Regimental or Headquarters Companies. This resulted in a colorful array of bayonet knots within a regiment with twelve or more assorted color combinations. NCO personnel wore a different type of bayonet knot, that did not show association with a particular unit, but indicated position.

The stamped, sheet steel construction helmet retains about 95% of its camouflage over-paint in tan. This single decal helmet shows minor crazing over the paint where the decal is, clearly showing the decal underneath the camo paint. All three liner retaining rivets are intact. The interior of the helmet has a M31 leather liner with all eight fingers intact. The interior, reverse, neck guard apron has a stamped serial number, "427". The interior, left side, apron has the stamped manufacturer’s code and size,"ET64" indicating manufacture by Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, size 64. The helmet comes with its original chinstrap. Nice looking field worn camo.
The first "modern" steel helmets were introduced by the French army in early 1915 and were shortly followed by the British army later that year. With plans on the drawing board, experimental helmets in the field, ("Gaede" helmet), and some captured French and British helmets the German army began tests for their own steel helmet at the Kummersdorf Proving Grounds in November, and in the field in December 1915. An acceptable pattern was developed and approved and production began at Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, in the spring of 1916. These first modern M16 helmets evolved into the M18 helmets by the end of WWI. The M16 and M18 helmets remained in usage through-out the Weimar Reichswehr, (National Defence {Force}), (Circa 1919-1933), era and on into the early years of the Third Reich until the development of the smaller, lighter M35 style helmet in June 1935. In an effort to reduced construction time and labor costs minor modifications were introduced in March 1940 resulting in the M40 helmet. Further construction modifications were undertaken in August 1942 resulting in the M42 helmet. Originally the Third Reich national tri-color helmet decal was introduced on March 14TH 1933 for wear on the left side of the helmet to replace the Reichswehr era state shield insignia. Regulations of February 17TH 1934 introduced the Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces), eagle decal and the national tri-color decal was shifted to the right side of the helmet with the Wehrmacht eagle decal positioned on the left hand side. Regulations of March 21ST 1940 dictated that the national tri-color decal was to be removed from all helmets and further regulations of August 28TH 1943 abolished the Wehrmacht eagle decal and dictated that it was also to be removed from all helmets although the directives were not completely adhered to.

 

Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow was born on June 18, 1840 at The Retreat near Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan River. The Retreat was his family home. He graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria in 1860 and went to Mississippi to teach Latin and Greek. When the War erupted he returned to Virginia to serve the Confederate States of America. Stringfellow wanted to serve but he had some difficulty persuading the Army that he was physically capable. After all he was only 5 feet 8 inches and weighed around 100 pounds. He was rejected by The Little Fork Rangers, the Madison County troop, the Goochland County Dragoons, and the Prince William County troop. But what Stringfellow lacked in physical brawn he made up for in brains. He targeted the Powhatan Troop, Company E of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry, then captured 3 of their soldiers at gunpoint and marched them to the Company Commander's tent. The Commander was persuaded that the young man had some skills to offer and they swore him in on May 28, 1861. He began right away with spying and his first assignment was to report on Yankee troop movements in and around occupied Alexandria, VA. He knew Alexandria well as his fiancée, Emma Green, lived there. Stringfellow soon caught the eye of J.E.B. Stuart at the Battle of First Manassas. Stuart had heard of Stringfellow and asked him to serve as his personal scout. Stringfellow became acquainted with other well-known scouts such as Redmond Burke, Will Farley, and John S. Mosby. In fact Farley and Burke had a hand in training Stringfellow.
Stringfellow moved in an out of battle and in and out of undercover. He fought at the Battle of Battle of Dranesville in November, 1861 and then from January to April, 1862 he was back in Alexandria, posing as a dental apprentice, collecting intelligence for the Confederacy. His job included reading the paper and passing on information to a courier each night. In those days troop movements were actually published in the newspaper. One day a man with his face wrapped in a towel raced into the dentist’s office with Stringfellow and horrified those in the waiting room with howls of excruciating pain. He left still holding the towel to his face. But the man was a fellow agent with so urgent a message it couldn’t wait to go through the usual nocturnal channels of communication. One of the people in the waiting room was a federal officer who never guessed he had just witnessed a classic scene of espionage. But this dental position ran aground when the dentist’s wife began to show more than friendly interest in Stringfellow. The dentist, already aware of his assistant’s true identity, noticed his wife’s seeming infatuation and promptly reported Stringfellow to Union authorities. Frank the spy fled for his life. He had a close call at the end of this assignment and had to make his way through enemy lines after his escape. Following this he returned to scouting and picket duty. Stringfellow served with Stuart at Seven Pines and Cold Harbor. In July, 1862 he was put on independent scout duty by Stuart in order to reconnoiter Pope's army. In August, he located a large wagon train at Catlett's Station and led Stuart to it, almost capturing Pope in the process. Left behind at Cedar Run to watch enemy troop movements, Stringfellow was again almost captured by Yankee soldiers. In the winter of 1863 Stringfellow returned to Alexandria to gather intelligence, having set up communication lines throughout Fairfax County. He was spotted in Alexandria, however, after he had been there only a short time. He managed to escape by hiding under the hoop skirt of a elderly Confederate sympathizer when pursued by Federal troops. Shortly after leaving Alexandria, angered by the killing of two of his men, he and a troop of about 35 Confederates attacked about fifty Yankees in house, killing and wounding many of them and taking about 25 prisoners. In June, 1863 Stringfellow had another amazing escape. He was dining with some friends in their home near the Bull Run Mountains when they were surprised by Federal troops. Stringfellow was well known to the Yankees by now and a constant target of their search. This group had orders to kill him on sight. Aided by a black female servant, Stringfellow was able to find a tight spot in the attic to hide in. The Yankees searched high and low in the house and barely overlooked him. He then slipped out of the house, commandeered a horse from a Federal he surprised and made his escape. His luck ran out later that month, however, when he was captured and sent to Old Capitol Prison in Washington City. He was exchanged as a Captain in August. Later that month he led a raid with eleven other Confederates on a Federal Headquarters and almost succeeded in capturing another Yankee General. In late September Stringfellow was on patrol with 2 comrades. While they were asleep 4 Yankees surprised them. Stringfellow was able to kill 1 Yankee and his comrade killed another. The other Confederate was shot but the remaining Yankees took off to alert their camp. The 2 Confederates separated, pursued hotly by the Yankees. Stringfellow escaped by hiding under a fallen cedar tree while the Yankees searched all around him. The 2 Confederates were then able to reunite and escape.
In late 1863 there was fighting around Stringfellow's boyhood home in Culpepper County. His mother was wounded in the foot and taken by the Federals in order to treat her injury. She was being held in a house that was in an area serving as a Federal regimental headquarters. Stringfellow got inside the Federal encampment and found his mother. He borrowed a woman's dress and bonnet from his mother’s female servant (who was still with his mother), slipped into the house and tended to his mother for 2 days before slipping out again and heading back to Confederate lines. Early in 1864 Stringfellow captured a Yankee Captain who carried with him a pass for a Southern girl of Stringfellow's acquaintance. The Captain was hoping that the girl would attend a dance at his invitation and the pass would be used to get her there. Stringfellow borrowed the girl's dress and had the girl and her mother coach him on impersonating a female. The girl's father then drove him in a buggy to the end of Confederate lines where Stringfellow then went on alone. At the dance he got much useful information about Northern troop movements. One Yankee Major took a "romantic" interest in him. Another Lieutenant, became suspicious, took Stringfellow outside and accused him of being a female spy. Stringfellow, saying that he appreciated the Lieutenant's attentions, asked him if he would turn around a minute while he prepared himself to demonstrate to the Lieutenant his appreciation of his kindness. When the Yankee turned his back Stringfellow pulled his derringer and took him prisoner. He then took him out in the buggy, forcing the Lieutenant to act as if he was escorting his "date" home from the dance. Stringfellow then took his prisoner back to Confederate lines. Stringfellow's last assignment came from Jefferson Davis himself. In March, 1865 he again impersonated a dental student in Washington. Gathering intelligence, he moved around from hotel to hotel. One hotel of his was full of detectives. One of these, a woman, had suspicions of him. In an attempt to trap him, at dinner one evening she proposed a toast to Abraham Lincoln. When everyone but Stringfellow had raised a glass she asked him why he wouldn't drink to Lincoln. In response, Stringfellow proposed a toast to "Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America." Stringfellow left that hotel soon after for new lodgings. When he was finally trying to get out of the city he was picked up by Federal troops who took him to a prison for further investigation, still not sure of his identity. Stringfellow again escaped from the prison before his identity was determined. It took him 21 days to get back to Virginia. By then the war was over. At the war's end, Stringfellow was designated by some of his enemies as "the most dangerous man in the Confederacy", and a reward of $10,000 was offered for his capture. Stringfellow fled to Canada. During the spring of 1866 he wrote to his beloved Emma that he was undergoing a transformation, I begin to realize that a new life is opening up to me - that "man does not live by bread alone - but by every word that proceeded from the Father." In 1867 Stringfellow returned to Virginia and after many months of preparation, he entered the Episcopal Seminary of Virginia, graduated and was ordained in 1876. Sometime during the post war period he married Emma Green and went on to serve many churches throughout Virginia. Reverend Frank Stringfellow was rector of Christ Church in Martinsville, VA from 1891 to 1894 and, after leaving Christ Church, became the first Chaplain at Woodberry Forest School near Orange, VA a private boarding school for boys. The school was founded by his cousin Robert Stringfellow Walker in 1889. Walker had been a member of Mosby’s Rangers during the War. In 1898 Stringfellow wanted to serve as a chaplain for the armed forces during the Spanish-American War. He was rejected as being too old. Stringfellow responded by writing to President William McKinley for help and asking for him to intervene. Stringfellow quoted a letter he had from President U.S. Grant. Shortly after the battle of Cold Harbor, during a mission with the purpose of capturing the Yankee Commander, Stringfellow had been close enough to Grant to shoot him in the back but had not been able to bring himself to do this. After the war Stringfellow wrote to President Grant about this incident. Grant in response wrote to Stringfellow thanking him and promising that he or any future president would be happy to grant any request of Stringfellow's. Thus, Stringfellow was allowed to become a U.S. Army chaplain at the age of 57. He returned from the war and continued his ministry until his death. Frank Stringfellow died on June 8, 1913 from a heart attack. He is buried beside his wife Emma in Ivy Hill Cemetery, Alexandria.