These items were all owned by or attributed to Sergeant Charles Reisser (1835-1928), veteran of the Battle of Antietam and officer in the 9th New York Volunteer Infantry also known as the Hawkins/New York Zouaves. The 9th has the distinction of being the first official Zouave regiment and mustered in April 1861 at the start of the war. The uniform is pictured on pages 182-183 of "Don Troiani's Civil War Soldiers" in which the author writes, "Undoubtedly this was the jacket he was wearing when wounded in the leg at Antietam, where the regiment suffered terrible losses." Reisser had immigrated to the U.S. in 1853 and was a farmer in Englewood, New Jersey, when the war broke out. He was married in 1860 and moved to Iowa with his wife after the war. He originally enlisted as a private in Company G of the 9th New York Volunteers and was promoted to sergeant in October 1861. His unit was stationed at Hatteras, North Carolina, from August 27, 1861, and then served in the 3rd Brigade of General Ambrose Burnside's North Carolina Expedition starting in January 1862 and fought at Roanoke Island, South Mills, moved to Washington, D.C., and to Frederick, Maryland, where they became a part of the Army of the Potomac. As part of the latter, they were engaged at South Mountain and Antietam. During the latter, Sergeant Reisser suffered a bullet wound to his leg on September 17, 1862. According to the included rather romantic framed biography of Reisser, a bullet passed through his canteen, struck his sword, and caused four wounds to his thigh. His unit remained in the fight and returned to recover him two days later. His leg had to be amputated. According to the monument to the 9th at Antietam, they suffered: 54 killed, 158 wounded, and 28 missing out of 373 men present at the beginning of the fight. This accounted for roughly 2/3s of all the men killed from the regiment in the war. Reisser was discharged in New York City on May 20, 1863. Reisser is listed as serving as an acting orderly sergeant on one of the cases for the items. The uniform includes a red fez style cap with silver "9" pin and navy blue tassel, a navy blue and red wool Algerian pattern Zouave pattern jacket with sergeant's rank chevrons, hook and eye closure, white linen lining, and "Chas Reisser/Co. G" in ink handwritten inside the left sleeve at the armpit; a matching navy blue and red wool and white linen Zouave waist coat marked "Ch R." on the lining at the hear, and a red linen sash. A wooden crutch is included that was reportedly used after he lost his leg. A scarce and valuable original hand tinted 6th plate (2 3/4 by 3 1/4 inches) portrait showing Reisser in an earlier Zouave uniform armed with a hunting/Bowie knife complete with a case along with two framed copies of the portrait are included. His naturalization/citizenship papers from 1859, 1860 marriage certificate, 1861 sergeant promotion, and 1863 discharge certificate are all included and are framed in museum quality frames. Additional items include a Benton County Veteran Association 29th Annual Reunion medal from August 7-8, 1907, Grand Army of the Republic veteran medal, a clay pipe, and silver half-dollar polished smooth on the obverse and inscribed "Sgt Charles Reisser/Co. 'G,' 9th Regt. Ny Vol./Hawkins Zouaves/Enl 4 May 1861." The rifle was built around the late 1850s to early 1870s by William Hahn of New York City and has traditional blade and notch sights, "W. HAHN N.Y" on top of the barrel "WARRANTED" marked lock with bird and floral patterns, double set triggers, and German silver furniture. The pistol in B is much older and could have been brought over from Germany when he immigrated.

The only marking are "Hußar" (Hussar) on the thumb plate, a crude "4" cut on the right side of the wrist, and a "*" stamped on the left flat. The stock has raised flats and incised molding accents.