[CIVIL WAR]. Gen'l Recruiting Office for Second Army Corps / No. 416 Library Street. / Head-Quarters Philad'a Brigade! / 69th, 71st, 72d and 106th Regiments. Philadelphia, PA: King & Baird, ca 1863-1864. 

23 1/2 x 31 in. (visible) tri-color, letterpress broadside, framed, 27 1/2 x 35 in. (visually appealing, colors strong, some creasing throughout, unexamined out of frame). Undersigned in type by Recruiting Officer and Captain Richard L.R. Shreve, 72nd Pennsylvania Volunteers. The recruiting broadside boasts of the "Largest Bounties Given!" including an extra $100 for veterans having served nine months or more, and promises that volunteers "will be credited to any ward they may desire." 

Originally formed as a regiment to be credited to the state of California, the Philadelphia Brigade was recruited in the Philadelphia area in 1861 by Oregon Senator Edward Baker. His strong recruiting efforts resulted in a brigade of four regiments, mostly from Philadelphia. Following the death of Baker at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, PA, Pennsylvania claimed the California regiments as its own and renamed them as the 69th, 71st, 72nd, and 106th Pennsylvania Volunteers. The four regiments were assigned to the Second Army Corps and adopted the "Philadelphia Brigade" nickname. 

The brigade fought with the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater for the entirety of its existence, participating in several major battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and the Overland Campaign. One of the brigade's most famous actions was at Gettysburg under the command of General Alexander Webb. On 3 July 1863, the brigade defended the "angle" and "copse of trees" on Cemetery Ridge, which was considered the designated point of attack for Pickett's Charge. Following Gettysburg, the brigade saw action in the Fall campaign as well as Grant's 1864 campaign against Richmond and Petersburg, suffering significant losses along the way. By June 1864, half of the brigade was mustered out and the remainder was transferred to another brigade. During the war, the brigade lost 3,533 men out of a total 5,320 men who served in the unit, resulting in a casualty rate of 64%.

Richard L.R. Shreve, who is identified as the recruiting officer on the broadside offered here, first enlisted as a private with the 19th Pennsylvania Militia on 5/18/1861. He then enlisted as a 2nd lieutenant with Company I, 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry on 8/10/1861, and was promoted to 1st lieutenant on 5/1/1863, followed by captain on 5/1/1863. Shreve was with the 72nd PA at Gettysburg, and less than a year later, he was KIA at Wilderness, VA, 5/6/1864. Shreve's rank of "captain" on the broadside indicates that it was produced between May 1863 and early spring 1864 prior to his death. 


The Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann