Autograph Letter Signed, 8” x 10”, requesting a cask of wine be sent to Fort Independence, Massachusetts.
“Boston, 5th July, 1849. Major Wm. D. Fraser, U.S. Corps Engineers, N[ew] Y[ork]. D[ea]r Sir, I will thank you to forward to this place by first packet convenient one cask Gaudron for the service of Fort Independence. Gaugeret & his Assistant joined me from St.[?] Newton on the morning of the 3rd July. Very Respectfully, Your Ob[edien]t Jos. K.F. Mansfield, Capt[ain]…& B[re]v[e]t Col[onel].’’
Overall condition is very good, with heavier wear and toning at the usual vertical and horizontal folds.
Signed Card, 1 ¾” x 3 ½”, with Confederate rank, “Will T. Martin, Maj[or] Gen[era]l Cav[alry], Wheeler’s Corps, C.S.A.”
Lightly toned, with minor staining and a few surface abrasions and indentations; old mounting remnants on the reverse and minor bumping at the corners.
Civil War-Date Endorsement Signed
Endorsement Signed, on a 3” x 3” slip of lined paper, removed from a larger Confederate document.
“H[ea]d Qu[arte]rs Maury’s Div[ision] A[rmy of the] West, Camp Rogers, Octo[ber] 28th 1862. Respectfully forwarded, D.H. Maury, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Comm[an]d[in]g.”
Lightly and evenly toned, with minor staining.
Civil War-Date Signature
Signature, with sentiment and Civil War date, “very truly yours, Geo[rge] B. McClellan, Jan[uary] 16, 1865,” on a 2” x 4 ½” slip of embossed paper. Affixed to heavier backing of the same dimension.
Lightly and evenly toned, with scattered glue staining.
Autograph Letter Signed, 4 ½” x 7”, two pages on the first and third leaves of a folded lettersheet. On black-bordered mourning stationery, Mrs. McClellan responds to a request for her husband’s autograph, probably just months after his death on October 29, 1885.
“32 Washington Square, Jan[uar]y 20th. Wm. H Jones, Esq[uire]. Dear Sir, Mr. Curtis writes me that you would like an autograph of General McClellan to put in Mr. Curtis’ little book. I have no note or letter that I can [s]end, but I enclose his signature which I have cut from a check. Yours truly, Ellen M. McClellan.”
Lightly and evenly toned, with a horizontal fold at the center; there are a few minor chips to the black border, and a diagonal horizontal fold transverses the lower portion of both pages.
Document Signed, 4 ¾” x 7 ½”, St. Louis Missouri, September 4, 1861, “J. McKinstry,” accomplished in another hand, a partly printed pass for a “Mrs. Sarah McIntyre to pass beyond the limits of the City and County of St. Louis, to go to Ohio.”
A rare autograph on an interesting, seldom-seen form, this being the first McKinstry piece we have encountered. Moderate toning throughout, with several stains; heavier wear and soiling along two vertical folds, with negligible separation at the edges.
Signature, with closing and rank, “Respectfully, L. McLaws, 2nd Lieut[enant] 7th Inf[antry]” on a 1” x 3 ¼” slip of paper removed from a Mexican War-era letter; affixed to a larger, heavier card. McLaws held the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Seventh U.S. Infantry from March 16, 1844 until February 16, 1847.
Moderately toned, with minor staining and soiling; closely clipped at the upper edge.
War-Date Confederate Bond
Document Signed, 14” x 17”, April 1, 1861, “A.B. Moore,” a partly printed $1000 bond “ISSUED FOR MILITARY DEFENSE” of the state of Alabama, serial number 314. Countersigned by State Comptroller W.J. Greene, with a pink embossed seal at the lower left. Thirteen of the original coupons remain attached at the bottom. Supporting material states that this issue is given the highest rarity rating of “R11” by Confederate Bond Authority Grover C. Criswell.
Lightly toned, with tiny holes at the intersections of the expected folds and a few small tears at the edges.
Civil War-Date Document - Pay for a 101st Indiana Infantry soldier who died one week later.
Document Signed, 8 ¼” x 10”, Nashville, Tennessee, May 30, 1863, “James D. Morgan, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Commanding Post,” a partly printed “Certificate to be Given to Discharged Volunteers to Enable them to draw their Pay” for Merrill Ransey (possibly Ramsey), a private in the 101st Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Further described, “Disease contracted prior to enlistment,” Private Ransey died in Nashville on June 8, 1863, just one week later.
Lightly and evenly toned, with scattered staining; somewhat heavier wear at two horizontal folds.
Civil War-Date Document Signed
Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 9 ½”, Chattanooga, Tennessee, December 24, 1863, “James D. Morgan, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Com[man]d[ing],” a partly printed requisition for corn, in the amount of $35.00.
Lightly and evenly toned, with scattered staining, two horizontal folds, and a few small tears at the edges.
Civil War-Date Autograph Letter Signed – from the Department of West Virginia
Autograph Letter Signed, 5 ½” x 7 ½”, responding to an autograph request from a noted Civil War-era collector.
“Head Q[uarte]rs 2nd Cav[alry] Div[ision] D[epartment] [of] W[est] V[irginia]. Front Royal, V[irgini]a, Nov[ember] 3rd 1864. Mr. C.L. Pascal, Philadelphia, P[ennsylvani]a. Sir, Your request bearing date Oct[ober] 22nd reached me this morning. Your request is hereby granted. I am dear Sir, Yours Respectfully, W.H. Powell, B[rigadier] G[eneral.”
Lightly and evenly toned; affixed to old heavier backing.
MILLER, MADISON (1811-96) Union Brevet Brigadier General; Colonel of the 18th Missouri Union Infantry; Late-war Brigadier General in the Missouri State Militia; President of the St. Louis & Iron Mountian Railroad Company
Document Signed, 9 ¼” x 11 ¼”, Jefferson City, Missouri, October 27, 1856, “Sterling Price,” as Missouri Governor, a partly printed $1000 bond of the Saint Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad. Countersigned below by Missouri Secretary of State Benjamin Franklin Massey, along with Railroad President Madison Miller, future Brevet Brigadier General in the Union Army, on the reverse.
Significant trimming of the ornate original borders also affects the printed text on the reverse; some separation at the expected fold creases, with negligible loss of paper; all signatures are unaffected by cancellation holes and chipping at the edges.
Signed Card, 3” x 4 ¾”, dated and inscribed, “James R. Randall, Augusta, G[eorgi]a. March 21, 1891. For Miss Louise Parkinson.”
Lightly and evenly toned, with several minor stains; bumping at the upper left corner; old mounting remnants on the reverse.
Signature & Rank, “B.S. Roberts, B[reve]t Brig[adie]r Gen[era]l U.S.A.,” on a 1 ½” x 4 ¾” slip of paper.
Excellent.
Civil War “Special Order,” directing a 13th U.S. Army Officer, mortally wounded at Vicksburg six months later, to report to Camp Butler
Document Signed, 8” x 10”, a manuscript special order, signed twice by Scates at the conclusion, directing 13th U.S. Infantry Captain Edward Crawford Washington, mortally wounded in the May 19, 1863 assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi, to report immediately to Camp Butler, near Springfield, Illinois, to enlist and pay bounty to the newly formed 128th Illinois Infantry.
“Head Quarters Springfield, Ill[inois], December 1, 1862. Special orders No. 63. Capt[ain] C. Washington, 13th Infantry, U.S.A. Disbursing Officer & c. Will proceed immediately to Camp Butler and pay bounty & premium to all the enlisted men of 128th Regiment Ill[inoi]s Infantry who have been mustered into the Service of the United States & report to these Head Quarters without delay. By order of Major General John A. McClernand. Walter B. Scates, Major & A[ssistant] A[djutant] Gen[era]l. L[ieutenan]t G.W. Hill Will furnish Capt. Washington transportation. W.B. Scates, Major & A.A. Genl.”
Exhibits the expected soiling, toning, and wear; water staining and clean separation, with no loss of paper, at the upper of two horizontal folds.
Franking Signature, as a post-war U.S. Representative from Ohio, “Robt. C. Schenck, M[ember] C[ongress],” on a 1 ½” x 5 ¼” portion of an envelope, with portions of the recipient’s address in Schenck’s hand beneath and a Washington, D.C. postmark at left.
Irregularly torn at the lower and left edges.
Signature, as U.S. Representative, “Robt. C. Schenck, Ohio,” on a 5 ¾” x 8 ¾” portion of an album page.
Excellent.
Appointing an Officer in the 61st Virginia Infantry
Civil War-Date Document Signed, on imprinted 8” x 10” Confederate War Department stationery, Richmond, Virginia, May 12, 1864, “James A. Seddon,” a partly printed appointment for William Henry Stewart to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the 61st Virginia Infantry. The unit was heavily engaged at the Civil War battles of Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor, Stewart being wounded at all three.
Lightly and evenly toned, with scattered stains and several chips at the corners and edges; there is a water stain at the lower left, well away from Seddon’s signature, and clean separation at two horizontal folds has been reinforced with archival tape on the reverse.
Signed Card, 2” x 3 ¼”, with rank, “P.H. Sheridan, L[ieutenan]t General, U.S.A.”
Excellent, with light, even toning and several small areas of very minor bleeding of ink.