Civil War Field Desk of the 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery with documents (SOLD)

This is another great piece that is being offered, it is the field desk of probably an officer of the 2^nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. It measures 11 ½” x 8” x 4”. Inside the desk are two compartments covered by the original felt and a lid that removes for storage of pens and pencils. When found in an old house in Pennsylvania, there were several documents from the Civil War.

There are four documents related to the 2^nd Pennsylvania Artillery, all in the same handwriting. Most concerning payroll and clothing allowances from 1864. I only did a quick research on some of the names and there are some who died, some POWs, etc. The other document is a large roster of the 67^th Pennsylvania Infantry – there are probably over 100 names.

The Second Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery carried, from first to last, over 5000 names on its rolls. In fact, it comprised two regiments— one in the Ninth, and one in the Eighteenth Corps. In the spring of 1864, the regiment, 1800 strong, joined the Second Division of the Eighteenth Corps, at Cold Harbor. The surplus men had been previously formed into a "provisional" regiment with the same designation, and assigned to the Ninth Corps. Most of the losses occurred in this provisional command.

The 2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment lost 5 officers and 221 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 5 officers and 385 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War.

There is an example of a lap desk in the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum and the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg (see pictures). Also, in the personal artifacts of Colonel Isaac Dyer of the 15th Maine, there is a very similar example of this desk (see pictures).

This desk shows its age but is still a solid piece and the interior compartments open and close. This would make a great addition to an officer’s or soldier’s personal effects and a great research project.