American Civil War Nurse; Founder of the American Red Cross

Barton's work in providing medicine and supplies to the wounded on the Civil War front lines earned her the sobriquet "The Angel of the Battlefield.” She went on to found the American Red Cross.

Autograph Letter Signed, 4” x 6 ¼”, undated, responding to an autograph request.

“My dear Mrs. Perkins, I regret that your very small request has been obliged to wait so long for a response, but it affords me great pleasure to be able to comply even at this late date. I write you from my summer resort at 1000 Islands, - & am, Very Sincerely, Clara Barton.”

A fine example in excellent condition.

Union Lieutenant – Indiana; American Author

Bierce used his experiences with Company C, 9^th Indiana Infantry at Shiloh, Corinth, Chickamauga, Atlanta, and numerous other engagements as the basis for his macabre and bitterly sarcastic short stories, including An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Chickamauga, and The Coup de Grace.

Signature, in pencil, on an unused 6” x 9” book page, “Compliments of Ambrose Bierce.”

The sheet is lightly and evenly toned, with minor loss of paper in the upper right corner.

Union Major General – Missouri; U.S. Senator & Congressman - Missouri

A prominent Missouri politician, the brother of Lincoln’s first postmaster general, Montgomery Blair, Francis P. Blair was the instrumental in keeping Missouri in the Union. He organized seven regiments of troops and, in mid-1862, resigned his seat in Congress to assume command in the Union Army, serving ably from the Vicksburg campaign through Sherman’s “March to the Sea.” Blair was the Democratic vice presidential candidate on the Horatio Seymour ticket, which lost to Grant in the election of 1868.

Civil War-Date Franked Envelope, 3” x 5 ½”, “Frank P. Blair, Jr., M.C.,” as U.S. Congressman from Missouri, shortly before Blair resigned the position to enter the Union Army. The envelope is also addressed by Blair, to “Franklin A. Dick, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.”

The envelope is evenly toned, with light wear and a few stains. A January 12, 1862, Washington, D.C. postmark intersects a portion of Blair’s signature.

U.S. Postmaster General - 1861-64; Brother of Francis P. Blair, Jr.; Mayor of St. Louis – 1842-43; Counsel for Dred Scott before the U.S. Supreme Court

“…I have written to Col. Fremont by this mail & via Nicaragua at considerable length…”

Autograph Letter Signed, 2 ½ pages, on a folded 8” x 10” letter-sheet. Writing to his sister from San Francisco, Blair discusses his health and laboriously explains his difficulty in writing. He further mentions business matters with John C. Fremont, the noted western explorer whom the influential and politically connected Blair family had backed in the presidential election of 1856.

“San Francisco, Aug. 16, [18]59. My dear Sister, I have nothing to write & have written to Mary sending d[ra]fts. You will hear from her every thing I have to say but still I like to say a word or so to you all at Silver Spring where so large a part of my affections dwell. I have not been quite well & am not yet as well as I would like to be. But I really think it is home sickness as much as any thing else that ails me. I have had occasional symptoms lately of a return of the Panama fever but I have stopped them & am now [?] on matters very energetically. Don’t tell momma a word of this for the sound would for she…go mad about it. I wrote home because you would expect longer & fuller letters than I can write. I have written her tho at my usual length tho I found it hard work to find matter to fill my sheets to her…I am now in no mood to dwell here or on things here in any letters I want to get away. But I start [?] I get every thing fixed so I can leave [?] in good condition. Write me therefore just as if I were a fixture – tho the thought of such a prospect would slay me outright.

I have written to Col. Fremont by this mail & via Nicaragua at considerable length & about some matters of importance to him. You say that since writing I have had a conversation with J[?] who tells me he has a power of atty. & promised to bring it here to my office yesterday. But he did not. I seldom see him & don’t know where to hunt him. I suppose he will turn up in a few days again & if his [?] are sufficient. I will get him to act on them & get a contract with Palmer to set aside proceedings in case not approved by Fremont.

Our promising uncle James D. Blair has put around here from the Sandwich Islands whence he hails now. I have not seen him & shall not seek him. It is just as well to keep at a respectful distance from such fellows especially when they [word omitted] of him to you. Y[ou]rs Aff[ectionatel]y, M. Blair.

Ned [?] & his wife & the cooks [are] better than I have seen her in years very much improved & she has got that if nothing else by coming here. She sends love to you & mother.”

Overall condition is very good, with the usual folds and a few small stains.

Union Brigadier General – Massachusetts

While leading the 10^th Massachusetts under McClellan on the Peninsula, Briggs was severely wounded in both thighs at Seven Pines. He briefly returned to active service, to command a brigade in the Middle Department and a division in the Army of the Potomac.

Briggs Writes to His Wife After “the late bloody battle of Gettysburg.”

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, four pages, on a 5” x 8” letter-sheet, signed “your Husband,” incorporating his signature into his wife’s address, “Mrs. H.S. Briggs, Pittsfield, Mass[achusetts],” at the conclusion. Assigned to lead an Eighth Corps brigade in the Army of the Potomac, Briggs relates the rigors sustained by the troops in his command. Many of them were Massachusetts Volunteers approaching the end of their nine-month terms of service – diverted and quick-marched to guard Union-held territory near Harpers Ferry during the retreat of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia after “the late bloody battle of Gettysburg.”

Dear Molly,

I have been thinking ever since we got into camp about 11 o’clock this forenoon that I must write; but it has been so hot and I have been so sleepy that I have not got to it till now (past 9 o’c[lock] eve) and that is time to turn in for…as early as 4 o’c[lock] in the morning to march.

This has been the hottest day we have had, and the men could hardly have endured a long march. We left camp near Waterford this morning at about 7 o’c[lock] and halted here as I said a little before 11 o’c[lock]. We are bivouacked in a fine wood, the first shade of any account we have had in our encampment. I last wrote you at camp near Buckittsville on Thursday I believe (or Friday, it is very difficult for me to keep the days of the week). We were ordered to march from there at 4 o’c[lock] yesterday morning but didn’t get off till about 6, then marched to Waterford which we reached about 2 o’c[lock] and had plenty of time to get into camp and rest before night. We crossed the Potomac yesterday morning by a pontoon bridge about 8 o’c[lock] at Berlin, where we left the 46[th] Mass[achusetts] Col[onel] [William S.] Shurtleff to go home its time having nearly expired. That leaves me with only the 8^th [Massachusetts] whose time expires on the 30^th inst[ant] and the 39^th [Massachusetts] about a thousand men in all; But that is a large Brigade in this Corps so reduced has it become by the casualties of a long term, the most ever of all which was the late bloody battle of Gettysburg. A Vermont Brig[age] left the Div[ision] yesterday also nine month troops.

Which way we go from here I know nothing of nor what is going on about us. It was supposed this morning that we were going to Leesburg [Virginia] from which we were about 7 miles to the north. We are now about the same distance west, and about mid-way between or opposite Gregors and Snickers Gaps in the Blue Ridge. I keep remarkably well altho[ugh] we all feel our broken sleep. Our orders to march almost invariably come after midnight here since there is not much sleep for us after that.

Dear Molly I have thought a great deal of you all to day, both on the march and since arrival in camp. I can think of you with better heart than when I first joined this army a week ago tho[ugh] not less tenderly and graciously. I am not so homesick and have come to accept my position as a necessity and duty. I am not altogether agreeably situated here; but I am content for the present in the belief that there will be some change soon as my command will be broken up by the departure of the 8^th [Massachusetts] a week hence.

It is now a fortnight since the date of your and George’s last letter. I do not allow myself to be anxious about you, trusting the Father of Mercies and of us all to keep you. Our mails are not often sent, since I suppose it is hardly known at Washington what my address is. I shall hope now to hear from you after the receipt of my letter from Funkstown dated a week ago tomorrow.

Our mail boy was sent to H[ea]d Qu[arter]s tonight but returned with the message that probably there would be no mail sent for two or three days.

I must turn in. So good night with lots of love to all. Affectionately your Husband. Mrs. H.S. Briggs, Pittsfield, Mass[achusetts].”

Union Major General - Ohio

Buell was instrumental in the Federal victories at Ft. Donelson and Shiloh, where his arrival late in the first day saved Grant from the Confederate attack. He was replaced by Rosecrans due to his hesitance in the pursuit of Bragg after the October 1862 battle of Perryville.

Signature, “D.C. Buell, Airdrie, Dec[ember] 28, 1886,” on a 2 ¼” x 4” slip of paper.

Lightly and evenly toned, with mounting remnants on the reverse.

Union Brigadier General – Maine; Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for Gettysburg

As colonel of the 20^th Maine, Chamberlain gallantly defended Little Round Top, preventing a Confederate victory at Gettysburg.

Addressed Envelope, 3” x 5 ½”, as Governor of Maine, to his wife, Fanny.

“Mrs. F.C. Chamberlain, Stevens House, New York City, N.Y.”

This ornate, official envelope has ink staining at the conclusion of Chamberlain’s address, and there are several tears, with no loss of paper, in the upper and lower left margins.

Union Brigadier General - Pennsylvania

Crawford's Civil War service began at Forts Moultrie and Sumter during the war’s opening engagement in 1861. He saw further action at Cedar Mountain, Gettysburg, and in the 1864 Overland Campaign.

Document Signed, 11” X 31”, Huntsville, Alabama, June 30, 1869, “S.W. Crawford, Colonel 2^nd Inf[antry] Bvt. Maj. Gen U.S.A.,” in violet ink on a partly printed muster roll, approving the pay of 2^nd Infantry Privates Charles Dilworth and Joseph Snyder for the period from April 30 through June 30, 1869.

The document is lightly toned, with weakness and minor loss of paper along the usual folds. Only a center one-fourth is illustrated; images of the remainder will be provided upon request.

Wife of 7^th Cavalry Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer; Author of Numerous Books on Her Husband and the American West

Mrs. Custer Asks for an Application to Join the Daughters of the American Revolution

Autograph Letter Signed, 1 ½ pages, on two separate 5” x 6 ½” sheets. Well into her eighties, Mrs. Custer writes to obtain an application to join the Daughters of the American Revolution.

“71 Park Avenue, N.Y., August 28 [1927]. Miss Blanche Edwards, My dear Miss Edwards, My cousin Mrs. Bingham has long wanted me to be a Daughter of the American Revolution and has been so good as to make it possible by searching records. I shall be glad to have the blanks for application when it is convenient for you to send them. Thanking you in advance I am very sincerely yours, Elizabeth B. Custer.”

Both sheets have a horizontal fold at the center and heavier toning along the edges. The accompanying transmittal envelope, 3 ½” x 5 ¼”, addressed by Mrs. Custer, to “Miss Blanche Edwards, Abiline, Kansas,” has general soiling and wear, along with a tear at the upper edge, near the August 29, 1927, Grand Central Station, New York postmark.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of War – 1864-65; Publisher & Editor of the New York Sun

Autograph Letter Signed, in violet ink, on imprinted 5” x 8” stationery as editor of the New York Sun. Writing to Baltimore native Eugene L. Didier, a published authority on Edgar Allan Poe, Dana expresses interest in receiving letters to print in The Sun.

“New York, Oct[ober] 11, 1883. Dear Sir: In reply to your favor of Tuesday last, I can only say that we shall be very glad to receive your letters and to pay for those that we find sufficiently interesting to print. Yours very truly, C.A. Dana.”

The letter is lightly and evenly toned, with two horizontal folds.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of War – 1864-65; Publisher & Editor of the New York Sun

Signed Card, 2 ½” x 3 ¾”, “C.A. Dana, Feb[ruary] 10, 1896.”

U.S. Secretary of State – 1852-53; Governor of Massachusetts – 1836-40; U.S Senator - Massachusetts

Everett preceded Lincoln at the podium on November 19, 1863, giving the principal address at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication.

Civil War-Date Autograph Quotation Signed, on a 3” x 5” slip of paper. During the third full year of the war – and less that a year after he delivered the opening speech before Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address – Everett expresses reverence for the nation’s first President, George Washington.

“Washington was the greatest of good men & the best of great men. Edward Everett. Boston, 3 Sept[embe]r 1864.”

Condition is excellent, with the expected light folds.

Established by act of Congress near the conclusion of the Civil War, the Freedmen’s Bureau aided former slaves in the South by arranging legal services, food and housing, education, health care, and employment. Union General Oliver O. Howard served as the first Chief Commissioner of the bureau, which operated from 1865 until disbanded by President Grant in 1872.

Letter Signed, on a 7 ¾” x 9 ¾” letter-sheet, imprinted War Department, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. This communication from Bureau Commissioner Oliver O. Howard, secretarially written and signed on the inside third page by the acting clerk, pertains to the return of property to one D.P. Sevick of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“Washington, July 10^th, 1867. D.P. Sevick, Esq., Chattanooga, Tennessee]. Sir, I am directed by Major Gen. Howard to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of July 4^th calling attention to previous papers, requesting return of your property in possession of the Bureau, and to inform you that the same has been referred to the Ass[istan]t Commissioner of Tennessee for consideration and action. The previous papers in the case were referred from this office April 20^th to the Ass[istan]t Commissioner of Tennessee with instructions to ‘settle the case if possible.’ Very Respectfully, Your Obedient servant, Isaac A. Dennis, Acting Chief Clerk.”

The letter has light soiling and wear, two horizontal folds, and several pinholes in the upper and left margins.

Twentieth U.S. President – 1881; Union Major General - Ohio

Signed Photograph, 2 ¼” x 4”, “J.A. Garfield, Ohio,” a Brady carte-de-visite.

There is light soiling and wear, and the upper corners of the card have been trimmed diagonally. The ornate back-mark has been marred by past mounting.

Union Lieutenant Colonel – Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for Gallantry at the Battle of Salem Heights, Virginia, May 3, 1863; U.S. Brigadier General of Volunteers – Spanish-American War

Document Signed, 8 ½” x 11”, June 9, 1874, “Jno. C. Gilmore, Captain 24[th] Inf[an]try,” a partly printed document certifying Gilmore’s pay of $180 for the month of May 1874. The document is also accomplished by Gilmore, thus bearing a second signature in the heading, “Captain J.C. Gilmore, 24[th] U.S. Infantry.”

Overall condition is very good, with light, even toning and two vertical folds.