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"He was the only soldier at Gettysburg who did not dodge when Lee's guns thundered; he stood up, smoked his cigar and faced the cannon balls with the sang froid of a Saladin..."
Major General Carl Schutz, describing Edward S. Salomon at Gettysburg
The most famous of the Jewish generals serving in the Union Army, the German immigrant Salomon began his military career as a second lieutenant - and by dint of his ability and gallantry, rose like a rocket through the ranks, ending the war a brevet general. Popular, always, with those above and those below, he gravitated after the war to politics becoming, first, the Clerk of Cook County, Illinois - in which role he was celebrated, and honored, by the citizens of Cook County, with the presentation of these dueling pistols.
[Edward S. Salomon] Pair of Boxed Dueling Pistols made by and duly marked "G.B. Evans, Philadelphia", each pistol with a large silver plaque inset on its left side bearing a lengthy inscription: Presented to General Edward S. Salomon. Declared by the vote of his fellow citizens as the most popular Soldier of Cook County [Illinois] at the Fair of the Chicago T--- G----[Military Training League] in September 1867. Each is 17 inches overall, with 10-inch octagon barrels; caliber 48 smooth-bores. Breech of barrels, barrel tangs, sidelocks and hammers are profusely scroll engraved. Walnut halfstocks with checkered handles. Guns are fitted with single set triggers (i.e., "hair triggers").
