[FLAGS] -- [CIVIL WAR]. 35-star "Great Star" pattern flag identified as the Colors of Company A, 61st Pennsylvania Regiment, previously owned by the family of Lieutenant John Pollock, DOW following the Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia.
70 1/2 x 48 1/2 in. hand-sewn cotton flag with 35 hand-sewn cotton stars, which appear to be double-appliquéd (toning and some staining to flag, occasional holes and several areas of separation throughout, some frayed edges). Ribbons/tassels (lightly tinted red, white, and blue) hang from the large, central star. Hoist is cotton, with penciled notation, which is difficult to discern outside of the identification to "Pollock." The flag is hand-stitched unevenly along the perimeter to red fabric.
A photocopy of a typed tag accompanies the flag, which notes, "This flag was the colors of Company A Sixty First Pennsylvania Regiment, Recruited at Indiana County August 1st 1861. It was sent to the family of Lieutenant John Pollock of Company A after his death from wounds received at the Battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia May 31, 1862. This flag was given to me as a collector of Civil War items by Lieutenant Pollock's great-great grandson, Mr. Trevor Pollock of Bradford, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1969."
John Pollock enlisted on 8/1/1861 as a 1st lieutenant and was commissioned into Company A, 61st Pennsylvania Infantry. He died of wounds which he received at the Battle of Fair Oaks, also known as the Battle of Seven Pines, VA, on 6/13/1862, and was buried at Portsmouth, VA.
The 61st PA would go on to participate in major engagements at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and many more, while earning the unenviable distinction of having more officers killed during the course of the war than any other Federal regiment.