Civil War Union field desk repurposed from a Watervliet cartridge crate, property of Lieutenant Colonel George Douglas Ramsay of the Washington Arsenal, DC. Composed of assembled wood painted and stamped with inscriptions FROM WATERVLIET ARSENAL on back side, CARTRIDGE / MUSKET OR RIFLE / CAL 57 on each side, and LIEUT COL, G, D, RAMSAY / WASHINGTON ARSENAL, / DC on front. Wooden bar fixed across opening made of repurposed Union leather knapsack straps, with an additional piece of leather housed in an envelope adhered to interior. 8" H x 16 1/2" W x 12" D. Circa 1863. Note: Brigadier General George Douglas Ramsay was born in Dumfries, VA in 1802. He entered the Military Academy at the age of 12, graduating in 1820. In 1831, he was promoted to captain, where he served for 26 years commanding several arsenals in the Mexican War. He later served as Chief Ordnance Office of the Army commanded by Major General Zachary Taylor. At the onset of the Civil War, he was assigned to serve on the Ordnance Board, was made a Major in 1861, and a Lieutenant Colonel in 1863. Later that year, he was promoted to Brigadier General and Chief of Ordnance and served in command of Washington Arsenal until 1870, a post which he retired from at the age of 62. He died in 1882 at the age of 80. (Courtesy of the University of Chicago Cullum's Register). The Watervliet Arsenal was founded in 1813 to support the War of 1812 and is the oldest continually active arsenal in the United States. The equally historic Washington Arsenal can trace its beginnings to a military reservation established in 1791. Although destroyed in the war of 1812, it was rebuilt starting in 1815 and is still in use today under the name Fort Lesley J. McNair. By the start of the Civil War, the arsenal had used one of the first steam presses, developed the first automatic machine for manufacturing percussive caps, and experimented with the Hale Rocket. A large civilian workforce manufactured ammunition at the arsenal, including a number of women, mostly from the lower classes including many Irish immigrants. On June 17, 1864, fireworks left in the sun ignited, killing 21 women, many of whom burned to death in flammable hoop skirts. The War Department paid for their funerals, and President Lincoln attended the funeral procession. Later, the conspirators accused of assassinating Lincoln were imprisoned on the grounds of the arsenal. After being tried by a military commission and found guilty, four were hanged on the premises (including Mary Surratt, the first woman ever executed under federal orders).

PROVENANCE: Private Virginia collection, purchased in 1979 from Giles Cromwell at the Southeast Virginia Arms Collectors Show in Richmond.

CONDITION: Overall wear and natural wood splitting consistent with age and use.