Varina Davis’ ring
The American Civil War Museum (acwm.org)
According to one wartime visitor to the Confederate White House in Richmond, the walls and mantels of First Lady Varina Davis’ reception room “were almost covered with chains and all kinds of knick-knacks, made and presented to her by those who had been captured and imprisoned by the enemy.” Among them was the ring shown here. Due to an interior inscription that reads “Ft Del Pris,” it is believed to have been made by a Confederate captive at Fort Delaware, a military prison located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. Over 30,000 Confederates were held prisoner at Fort Delaware during the war, and slightly over seven percent of them died in captivity. When exactly the soldier who made the ring was imprisoned there is unknown.
