Page 26 - Nov 2020 JOA

Q: My family has an invoice from Robert E. I have not seen anything exactly like this.
Lee during his Gettysburg retreat. He stopped There are many claims made by southerners
at our family farm and took a list of items against the Confederate government for
valued at $806.50 at the time. Any suggestions crops, livestock, and wood (fuel), but trying
on preservation or valuation? to get money from Uncle Sam is different.
I imagine certain Gettysburg collectors
JS: Your document is interesting, to say the love the story and would probably pay in the
least, but not sure how it will translate into $500 range, but it is a family heirloom.
cash value. Apparently, your ancestor is trying It could be preserved easily by a paper
to be reimbursed for loss of property during conservator and will display better. Call your
the Gettysburg Campaign taken by Lee’s local university library with a rare book and
Army. He paid 5 cents for a tax stamp in 1864 manuscript department. They can usually
to file this document. The U.S. government put you in touch with a qualified, reasonably
may have paid the $806.50; it would be priced conservator.
interesting to follow the claim. A receipt for property taken by Robert E. Lee’s
troops, perhaps worth $500.

Q: Attached is a photo of our field desk. We would be interested in The auction sale of a documented similar desk was described as lot
knowing its value. The following is information about it: authenticated 3157 at Poulin Auctions in Fairfield, ME, in October 2018 as: “This
Civil War field desk, rich provenance to 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer desk belonged to Jacob Widaman, Company G, 8th Indiana Infantry.
Infantry Regiment; authenticated by the curator of New Hampshire The desk has his name & unit penciled on the side of the desk with
Historical Society April 1960; excellent condition, with the original ‘New Orleans’ below (where he must have obtained the desk). The
unfinished surface; original fold-down desktop, drawers, hardware, etc. desk contains well over 500 documents, letters, broadsides, general
Shot impregnated on one side. orders, muster rolls, discharges, ordnance reports, etc. The documents
date from Dec. 1861 & end in 1865.”
Significant Actions: This desk was sold by Poulin Auctions; if it had been empty
Bull Run, July 21st, 1861, 12 killed with just the soldier’s name and unit, its value would have been about
Evansport, VA, April 2nd 1861, 1 killed $500. The 500 original Civil War documents and other ephemera
Williamsburg, VA, May 5th, 1862, 21 killed are what caused the value to be tenfold, selling for $5,313 with the
Oak Grove, VA, June 25th, 1862, 9 killed buyer’s premium.
Bull Run, VA, August 29th, 1862, 36 killed
Fredericksburg VA December 14th, 1862, 2 killed
Gettysburg, PA, July 2nd, 1863, 47 killed
Petersburg, VA, June 14th, 1864, 1 killed
Drewery’s Bluff, VA, May 16, 1864, 5 killed
Cold Harbor, VA, June 3rd, 1864, 19 killed
Petersburg, VA, June 24th, 1864, 5 killed
Point Lookout, MD Prison Camp, July, 1864, Abraham Lincoln visit

Thank you for any assistance you can give us in this matter.

JS: Your desk is a little bulky for use in the field. Some wealthier, high-
ranking officers probably had similar furniture in the field or in camps,
but for the most part, surviving and identified field desks generally did
not have legs attached. Such a large, clumsy piece of furniture was
difficult to pack and move in the field.
The top portion of your desk is quite typical of field desks of the
day; however, if you have the provenance of its use by 2nd NH A large Civil War desk used in the 2nd New Hampshire Volunteer
infantry, it would probably have a value of $500-$1,000. Infantry Regiment, $500-$1,000.

Q: Hi, John. I'm submitting for your opinion and appraisal a
Civil War Era officers(?)/soldiers(?) wallet made by Cobb and
Johnson of Lancaster, MA. It is 4 3/4 x 3 inches and has six
inside pockets. There is also an ink stamp, which is hard to
make out, that I assume was the “ID card” of the day. It names
the towns of West Harwich, MA and So. Dennis, MA, both on
Cape Cod. Thank you.

JS: This is a style of wallet used during the Civil War.
Occasionally, similar examples are found with soldiers’
names inked inside. Without a direct identification to a per-
son in the Civil War, these are more of a 19th century
antique market item. You can find similarly marked wallets
with a different agent or maker's markings for $50-$150.
A wallet of the Civil War period but no
identifiable connection to a person
serving in the Civil War, $50-$150. The wallet opens and has six side pockets.
24 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles