While most of the Confederate generals staid with Motorola bag phones throughout the war, General Lee opted for a Samsung Convoy, captured during the aftermath of Fredericksburg. In this picture, you can also see the cell phone prop Lee carried in the latter part of the war. It is made from an oak tree grown on General John Hunt Morgan and was presented to Lee by General A.P. Hill during the retreat from Gettysburg.
Supposedly, Hill overheard Lee complaining, "I do believe my arm will fall off trying to get a signal in these Pennsylvania hills."
The prop had originally been a gag wedding gift from Morgan to Hill. Morgan had served as Hill's best man. Inscribed on the brass plaque: "To the man who gave McClellan's wife a dose of David's Scourge, my best friend forever, John."
Shortly after Appomattox, the prop was mistakenly (assumed) burned in a campfire, but the plaque survived and was donated to the Lee Museum in Richmond, VA. It keeps passing between here, the Chesterfield County museum which houses the A.P. Hill collection and the Hunt-Morgan House in Lexington, KY. Nobody really wants to keep it in their collection.
Last edited by shaman; 09/08/17.