CIVIL WAR ERA OFFICER’S TRUNK IDENTIFIED TO BREVET BRIG. GEN. CHARLES HALE MORGAN, HANCOCK’S CHIEF OF STAFF – “MAJOR C.H. MORGAN, 4TH U.S. ARTILLERY”

CIVIL WAR ERA OFFICER’S TRUNK IDENTIFIED TO BREVET BRIG. GEN. CHARLES HALE MORGAN, HANCOCK’S CHIEF OF STAFF – “MAJOR C.H. MORGAN, 4TH U.S. ARTILLERY”

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$2,500.00 ON HOLD

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Item Code: 2026-3114

This is a large painted wooden officer’s trunk identified to Charles Hale Morgan. Morgan was the Second Corps’ chief of artillery at Gettysburg and later Winfield Scott Hancock’s chief of staff. His name appears on the trunk in three places. It also carries an earlier shipping address to a General Small in Chicago, which was painted out.

The front is stenciled in white “C.H. MORGAN, / U.S.A.” One end is stenciled in black “MAJOR C. H. MORGAN / 4TH U.S. ARTILLERY.” The back has an older black stencil reading “GEN’L ... SM[ALL] ... CHICAGO / ILL.,” struck through with heavy brushstrokes when the trunk changed hands or was readdressed. “No. 4” is painted in script on the front and on both ends of the lid, and the lid corner is marked “2/5 u.”

Charles Hale Morgan was born in Manlius, New York, in 1834. He graduated from West Point in 1857 and was posted to the 4th U.S. Artillery. He served on the Utah Expedition and in the Peninsula Campaign, and in October 1862 he became chief of artillery of the Second Corps. He earned brevets for gallantry at Gettysburg, Bristoe Station and Spotsylvania. As chief of staff of the Second Corps before Richmond, he rose to brigadier general of volunteers. In 1865 he served as Hancock’s chief of staff and assistant inspector general in the Middle Military Division. After the war, he returned to his old regiment as Major of the 4th U.S. Artillery in February 1867. He served at the Artillery School at Fort Monroe and at posts along the Atlantic coast. He died on 20 December 1875 while commanding the post at Alcatraz Island, California, at age 41. The “Major” stencil dates to those postwar years, when trunks like this one followed an officer from post to post.

We believe the earlier stencil refers to Brevet Brigadier General Michael P. Small. Small was born in York, Pennsylvania, in 1831 and graduated from West Point in 1855, two years ahead of Morgan. Like Morgan, he began his career in the artillery. He served in the force that put down John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. During the war he moved to the Commissary (Subsistence) Department. At Appomattox, on Grant’s orders, he issued rations to Lee’s surrendered army, and he was brevetted brigadier general at Grant’s request. Cullum’s Register records that Small served as Purchasing and Depot Commissary at Chicago from June 1875 to December 1880, which matches the “Gen’l Small, Chicago” address. Morgan was still serving during the first months of that posting. How the trunk passed between the two officers is not known. Small remained a career Subsistence officer and died at Governor’s Island, New York, in 1892.

The trunk is built of dovetailed pine, painted green, with a black-painted base molding. The lid has a large applied raised panel with notched corners and rounded ends. Each end has a recessed iron flush handle. The hardware includes an iron hasp, three iron hinges and iron corner straps on the lid, all held with slotted screws. The trunk measures about 44½" long, 25½" deep and 22" high.

The trunk shows long, honest use. The green paint is worn through to bare wood along the edges, the lid and the base molding, with scattered scuffs and chips. The lid has shrinkage splits between its boards. The white front stencil is bright and complete. The end stencil is clear, with some fading in the second line. The painted-out back stencil is partly legible under the strike-through. All the iron hardware is present, though one handle has been cracked in two. It will still support weight regardless.

Ex-Texas Civil War Museum collection.  [gh][ph:L]

Note:  If purchased, we recommend picking up at the shop due to this item's size and weight.

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