Includes red, white and blue flag remnants from one of the regimental flags carried by the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War. Beautifully displayed within 11 x 14 double mat boards of cream and red. The flag remnants are accented by a copy photograph of Union troops before the battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, where the 61st Pennsylvania Infantry suffered their greatest losses in soldiers and officers, plus descriptive text about the regiment. Comes with letter of provenance which traces this flag back to a G.A.R. Hall in Philadelphia.
The 61st Pennsylvania Infantry was a workhorse in the Army of the Potomac, and also saw some action with the Army of the Shenandoah. They fought in the 7 Days Battles, Chantilly, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Bristoe campaign, the Mine Run campaign, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, battle of Opequan, Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and the Appomattox campaign, to name but a few places. At Fair Oaks, the unit was mauled by Micah Jenkins' Confederates losing 263 men and all of the field officers were either killed, wounded or captured. At the Wilderness, they lost 151 men, and at Spotsylvania their loss was 139 men. The 61st lost more officers in combat than any other Federal regiment, and the battle deaths of the regiment ranked 15th highest of the over 2,000 units in the entire Union Army! |
