Charlie Harris Death, Obituary – This morning, my dear friend and a pioneer in the field of Civil War antiques, Charlie Harris, passed away. He was a pioneer in the field of antiques. In the industry in which he worked, he personified the highest standards of professionalism and competence. I’m sorry to be the one to break the news to you, but he passed away not too long ago, and now I feel as though the entire world is resting on my shoulders. Charlie has devoted the better part of his life to studying, amassing knowledge, and producing written work on a wide range of subjects that are in some way connected to the American Civil War.
His bets are spread thin across the entirety of the conflict in equal measure. When I initially arrived in Chattanooga, Tennessee, fifty years ago, I was employed to teach mathematics and serve as the head baseball coach at Ringgold Georgia High School. During that time, I also played baseball for the school. Before that, I had lived in a few different states across the United States. In addition to that, I was the manager of the baseball club at that school during that time period. Charlie was a student in my classroom at one point in time in the past.
Over the course of all of these years, I do not believe that I have ever come across a person who is more completely devoted to the activity of searching for Civil War relics, collecting Civil War relics, and documenting their discoveries. In fact, I do not believe that I have ever come across a person who is more completely dedicated to any of these three activities. It seems that no one else has ever been spotted doing this before, at least not by me. “Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns” and “Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns and Beyond 1861 – 1865” are the titles of two of the many reference books that Charlie has authored about the American Civil War.
Butch Holcombe and the author contributed to the latter book together as co-authors. Even though the event is over, you can still watch Charlie signing books right up until the very end of it since the latter book is very literally “just being introduced.” Despite the fact that the event has already ended. Because Charlie Harris has passed away, there will be a huge loss of knowledge regarding the collecting of Civil War artifacts and the identification of those objects. This loss of knowledge will occur as a direct result of Charlie Harris’s passing. Over the course of all of these years, the privilege of being able to refer to Charlie and Teresa as my friends has been something that has not only been an honor for me but also a huge and enormous source of joy for me. Rest in Peace