Union Colonel – Raised the 11^th New York Infantry – “Ellsworth’s Fire Zouaves”

A personal friend of President Lincoln, Ellsworth became an instant hero to the Union when he was shot by proprietor James T. Jackson while removing the Confederate flag from the Marshall House Tavern in Alexandria, Virginia on May 24, 1861. Jackson was, in turn, immediately shot and killed by Zouave Private Francis E. Brownell, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the action.

Signed Card, 2” x 3 ½”, with initials, "E.E.E.,” on the reverse of a Terpsichorean Club card of the U.S. Zouave Cadets, probably relating to a formal dance sponsored by the unit.

The card is accompanied by a printed forty-page booklet, 3 ½” x 5 ¼”, enumerating the terms of drill and many other details of the Zouaves’ history and of their “Proposed Tour of the United States.” Strictly drilled and held to the most rigorous standards of military and personal discipline, their gaudy uniforms fashioned after those of the French colonial troops in Algeria, the unit achieved national renown as an exhibition while touring the northeastern United States.

The text of the back cover, “Chicago, Ill., Sept, 20^th 1859,” along with several pages of press notices dating from mid 1859 through May 1860, associate the booklet and card to Ellsworth’s time in Illinois, where he trained the Chicago National Guard Cadets, later known as the U.S. Zouave Cadets. Having studied in the law office of Abraham Lincoln during his time in Illinois, Ellsworth became a personal friend of the Lincoln family. He campaigned tirelessly for Lincoln in the election of 1860, and accompanied the new President to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration.

Both pieces bear general soiling and wear; having heavier staining on the covers, the booklet contains all its original pages, legible and unmarred.

Union Rear Admiral

WELLES, GIDEON (1802-78)  U.S. Secretary of the Navy - 1861-69

As commodore in the U.S. Navy, Foote provided naval support in the Federal operations against Forts Henry and Donelson and in the bombardment of Island #10. Promoted to rear admiral for those actions, he died shortly after being transferred to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1863.

As the Country Prepares for War - Just a Month Before the Bombardment of Ft. Sumter - a Union Sailor is Detached to Await Orders

Endorsement Signed, “Forwarded by A.H. Foote…March 11/[18]61,” on the reverse of the attached leaf of a Letter Signed, 8” x 10”, by Navy Secretary Gideon Welles. In an action undoubtedly replicated throughout the military, emblematic of the nation’s preparation for the Civil War that would break out just a month later, Welles orders “3^rd Ass[istan]t Engineer Oscar H. Lackey, U.S. Navy, New York,” detached from his prior assignment aboard the Crusader, to await further orders:

“Navy Department, 9 March 1861. Sir, You are hereby detached from the Crusader and you will regard yourself as Waiting Orders. I am, respectfully, Your Obed[ien]t Serv[an]t, Gideon Welles...”

The letter-sheet is lightly and evenly toned, with an old clip hole in the upper margin. The integral leaf signed by Foote bears heavier soiling and wear, and contains an extremely detailed Navy Department watermark.

18^th U.S. President - 1869-77; Union Lieutenant General

From Vicksburg, Grant Exerts His Authority Over the Mississippi, in an Incident with the Steamer Empress – Later Burned by Nathan Bedford Forrest

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, 1 ½ pages, front and reverse of the first leaf of a folded 5” x 8” letter-sheet, to a United States Treasury agent identified only as “Mr. Montrose.”

From his headquarters in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Confederate river stronghold having fallen to Federal forces under Grant just three months earlier, the Union commander informs Agent Montrose of the improper seizure of a cotton-laden steamer on the river by the U.S. Navy. As unhindered shipping on the Mississippi had resumed after the mid-summer fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, Montrose is further instructed to provide passes for use by Union vessels as additional protection against future seizures in violation of orders already issued by Grant.

“U.S.S. Choctaw, Off Mouth of Red River, October 4, 1863. Sir: This morning the steamer Empress came down from Natchez, having on board about 2,800 bales of cotton, taken on board by permission of Brigadier-General M.M. Crocker, commanding U.S. forces at Natchez…Never having received orders to pass cotton shipped by permission of army officers, and the proclamation of the President of March 31, 1863, and the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury of the same date not permitting any such trade, I ordered the captain of the Empress to return to Natchez with the cotton, and gave him a letter to General Crocker, a copy of which I enclose. I was informed by the captain of the Empress that these permits were given by General Grant…Frank M. Ramsay, Lieutenant-Commander, Commanding Third District.”

“U.S.S. Benton, Off Natchez, October 9, 1863…I was informed by my executive officer that he had forwarded a letter from General Grant to Captain Ramsay, a copy of which I send, in which the general was willing to assume the responsibility in the premises and referred to an order from the Treasury Department of September 15, 1863, which caused him to issue his General Order No. 57, which I send enclosed…Jas. A. Greer, Lieutenant-Commander, Comdg. 4^th Dist., Miss. Squadron.”

“U.S.S. Choctaw, Off Mouth of Red River, November 8, 1863. Captain Couthouy told them that you commanded the Mississippi River; that General Grant was absolute on shore, but that he did not control so much of the water of the Mississippi as would be sufficient for him to wash his face in; that this was no question between military and naval authority, but simply whether the officers in command of gunboats should obey your orders and those of the Secretary of the Navy or those of General Grant…A person calling himself General David Stewart (who, I was informed in Natchez, is supposed to be a cotton speculator) took it upon himself to spread a number of reports, and was the principal speaker among the passengers on the Empress…Frank M. Ramsay, Lieutenant-Commander, Comdg. 3^rd Dist., Miss. Squadron.”

There is light, even toning, with the usual folds, several small stains, and somewhat heavier soiling and wear to the docketed fourth page of the letter-sheet. Slight trimming of the margins, perhaps inadvertent when the envelope in which the letter was delivered was opened, affects several letters of text in the last line of the first page and in the first word of the second.

Nineteenth U.S. President - 1877-81; Governor of Ohio – 1868-72 & 1876-77; Union Brigadier General - Ohio

Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 10”, as U.S. President, a partly printed “affix the seal” document.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice– 1902-32; Civil War Union Captain – 20^th Massachusetts Infantry

Autograph Letter Signed, 5” x 6 ½”, to “Mrs. Carl C. Wheaton.” As U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice, Holmes cordially complies with an autograph request, signing in full at the conclusion.

“Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, September 5, 1930. My dear Mrs. Wheaton, Presence here will prevent my accepting your kind offer to show me your autograph book, but it gives me pleasure to comply with your slight request that I add to it and join so distinguished a company. Very Truly Yours, Oliver Wendell Holmes.”

The letter is lightly and evenly toned, with a few unobtrusive stains and a horizontal fold at the center.

Union Brevet Brigadier General; Union Colonel – 82^nd Indiana Infantry

Signature, as U.S. Congressman from Indiana, “Morton C. Hunter, Bloomington, Indiana,” on a 2 ½” x 6” portion of an album page.

Union Rear Admiral

A distant cousin of Robert E. Lee, Samuel P. Lee remained loyal to the Union when war erupted in 1861. He commanded numerous ships during the course of the war, most notably on blockade duty, from which he received more than $100,000 in prize money for the capture of Confederate blockade runners.

Letter Signed, 8” x 13 ½”. As commander of the North Atlantic Fleet in Key West, Florida, Lee directs Commodore Joseph F. Green in the use of coal for U.S. Navy vessels at St. Thomas, due to the expiration of a contract for its receipt and storage.

“U.S.S. Severn (2^nd Rate), Key West, Fl[orid]a, February 13^th 1871. Commodore Joseph F. Green, U.S.A., Commander of Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet, or Senior Naval Officer in Dominican Waters. Sir, The Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting under date of January 24^th 1871 informs me that as it intends to discontinue its contract with Mrs. Johanna Gordon, from and after the 24^th June next, (the date of its expiration) for the receiving, storing &c. of the Government coal at St. Thomas, it is desirable that the stock of Coal on hand (263 tons) as per report of 25 Dec[ember] 1870, should be used up before the expiration of the contract. Please therefore give such directions to cruisers under your command, as will accomplish this object. When the stock of Coal on hand has been used up, Coal may be bought at ‘St. Thomas,’ to the best interests of the Government, whenever required by cruisers touching at that port. Respectfully Yours, S.P.Lee, Rear Admiral Com[mandin]g N[orth] A[tlantic] Fleet.”

The letter has three horizontal folds, and there is a diagonal break, with no loss of paper, at center left. A strip of old paper backing along the left edge is still present.

Union Brigadier General - New Hampshire; U.S. Congressman – New Hampshire – 1859-63 & 1865-67; U.S. Senator – New Hampshire - 1889

Marston recruited and led the 2^nd New Hampshire at First Bull Run, the Peninsula, and Fredericksburg. After Gettysburg, he was assigned to establish the prison camp at Point Lookout and returned to the Army of the Potomac for the disastrous Union assault at Cold Harbor.

Marston Writes of the Hard Fighting at Drewry’s Bluff

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, three pages, on a 5” x 8” letter-sheet. Writing to an unnamed cousin from the scene of the Union’s just-concluded attempt to take Richmond, Marston shares details of the hard fighting, and concludes with information relating to political events in his native New Hampshire. In the campaign which came to be known as Drewry’s Bluff, begun on May 6, 1864, Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James advanced overland toward Richmond from the Bermuda Hundred, just north of City Point. As indicated in this letter, the Federal Army came within six miles of the Confederate capital before being repulsed in a counterattack by troops under P.G.T. Beauregard on May 16, successfully delaying the fall of Richmond by almost a year.

Friend Cousin,

Your brother in [?] wrote me to know what had become of you, but I suppose you have reported before this as Wilkinson tells me you started for home some days ago. Since I started on this campaign I have had little opportunity to hear from or write to anyone. For nearly a week I had no opportunity of sending letters if I had the time to write them. It has been the hardest kind of campaigning I have ever known. Marching, fighting, sleeping on the ground without tents, fire or even a blanket. I have several times undertaken to write a short note but before I could complete it everybody would be called to arms to repel a charge or make an attack. I have had to write orders and reports with a tree for a table while shot and shells were crashing through the branches. The rebels are pressing us about as hard as we are pressing them and last night they shelled our camps. But I imagine we shall soon reverse all this and drive them within their earthen walls about Richmond and force an entrance ourselves. The right wing of the army got within 6 or 7 miles of Richmond on the 16^th but that 6 or 7 miles we shall find a much harder road to travel than that we have passed over. I have re[ceive]d only three or four letters from N.H. since I left Yorktown and not one from Washington. Probably people don’t know where I am and I hardly know myself. That it is all woods, swamps & ravines with but very little land in cultivation I know very well.

What new thing has turned up about the Senatorship – anything? Wilkinson had a letter from his brother saying Tuck was about played out & that Rollins he thought was gaining a little. I am told also that the Boston Advertiser is down on me for not supporting Joel and us not being in the front rank of republicans &c &c. That is Tuck of course. His hand may not have written the article but his mean spirit dictated it. Well, we have had to deal with these fellows before and whatever else they may do they cannot defeat us.

I should like for you to write me and let me know the present aspect of affairs.

When I will get time to write again I don’t know. My command occupies me every moment.

Yours very truly, G. Marston.

Remember me kindly to friend Gale.”

Union Major General - Ohio

An 1853 graduate of West Point, McPherson entered the war as first lieutenant of engineers, seeing action at Forts Henry & Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth. As major general of volunteers, he commanded the 17^th Corps through the Vicksburg Campaign, winning the praise of both Grant and Sherman. McPherson was killed-in-action on July 22,1864, during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign.

War-Date Signature, with rank, “Jas. B. McPherson, Maj. Genl.” on a 1 ½” x 3 ¾” slip of paper.

Canadian-Born Journalist; Editor of the Chicago Tribune; Mayor of Chicago – 1871-73

As influential editor of the Chicago Tribune, Medill was instrumental in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency, and remained his staunch supporter throughout the Civil War. He served one term in office as mayor of Chicago, from 1871 to 1873.

Document Signed, Chicago, Illinois, June 25, 1873, “J. Medill,” as Chicago mayor, a partly printed 3 ¼” x 7 ½” check, payable to “S.Y. Prince” for $1.48 and drawn on the Chicago Police Fund.

There are a few pinholes along the left edge, which has been trimmed slightly, and there is a small area of paper loss in the lower left corner. The signature is unaffected by a punch cancellation at the center.

Union Commodore

A lifelong navy man, born in New Orleans, Porter commanded Union naval forces at Ft. Henry, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, and Baton Rouge. He held no active command after promotion to commodore and died on May 1, 1864.

War-Date Signature, with sentiment and the rank Porter held from July 15, 1862 until his death during the Civil War, “Yours Respectfully, W.D. Porter, Commodore, U.S. N[avy],” on a 1 ¾” x 3 ¼” slip of paper.

Lightly and evenly toned, with old mounting traces on the reverse.

Union Brigadier General - New York; Mortally Wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania

After early-war service with the 39^th New York, Rice led the 44^th New York in the Peninsula campaign and at Second Manassas, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where his heroic defense of Little Round Top secured his promotion to brigadier. He was severely wounded while leading a brigade in Wadsworth's division at Spotsylvania and died from complications arising from the amputation of his leg.

Revealing a Movement of the Army of the Potomac to a Newspaperman!

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed, 5” x 7 ¾”. Writing on the day after Abraham Lincoln’s delivery of the Gettysburg Address, Rice orders a newspaper subscription and seeks the unknown recipient’s opinion of his report of the Battle of Gettysburg. For the presumed purpose of illustrating his importance as a correspondent, Rice further offers to submit letters for publication during the upcoming winter, astonishingly suggesting an imminent movement of the Army of the Potomac.

“Army of the Potomac, H[ea]d Q[uarte]rs 2^nd Brig. 1^st Div. 1^st Corps, November 20^th 1863. My dear Sir, I should be happy to have the Semi Weekly Post sent to my address. Whenever I have a safe opportunity, I will send you the amount of the annual subscription. Have you ever found time to look over my report of the battle of Gettysburgh? I hope during the coming winter to write a few letters for the Post. There are indications of the movement of this army in a day or two. Be so kind as to write me a few lines. Very sincerely Yours, J.C. Rice, Brig. Genl.”

Throughout the war, President Lincoln and the Union high command were routinely vexed by the reporting of troop movements in newspapers which could be readily obtained by Confederate sympathizers and spies. It is astounding that Rice, newly appointed to the rank of brigadier general for his gallantry at Gettysburg, would volunteer such information to a newspaperman.

The letter is lightly and evenly toned, with several light folds. A small strip of paper in the lower left corner, presumably removed due to its containing the name of the recipient, has been professionally restored.

Union Major General – Ohio; U.S. Congressman – California – 1881-85

Rosecrans led the Army of the Cumberland at Murfreesboro and through the Tullahoma campaign to Chickamauga, where he was routed by the Confederates under Longstreet, a misadventure which effectively ended his military career. After the war, he settled near Los Angeles, serving as U.S. Congressman from California, 1881 – 1885.

Signed Card, 2” x 3 ½”, with rank, “W.S. Rosecrans, Maj[or] Genl.”

There is general soiling and wear, along with a few pinholes and light creases.

Union Major General - Connecticut

A West Point graduate, veteran of the Seminole and Mexican Wars, Sedgwick served with the Army of the Potomac from the Peninsula through Spotsylvania, where he was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter.

War-Date Document Signed, 3 ¾” x 8”, a manuscript pass for Lieutenant Henry J. Strait of the hard-fought 40^th New York Infantry, also know as the Mozart Regiment. This early-war pass can be dated to the period before Sedgwick’s promotion to major general on July 25, 1862.

“Permission is hereby given Lieut[enant] H.J.Strait to visit Washington & Return to-day. By order of E.J. Riley, Col[onel] Com[man]d[in]g 40^th N[ew] Y[ork] V[olunteers].  per J.H.B. Jenkins, Adj[utan]t’s Clerk. Approved, John Sedgwick, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Vol[unteer]s.”

There is light soiling and wear, paper separation at the center intersection of the usual folds, along with minor loss of paper in the upper margin.

U.S. Interior Secretary – 1861-63

Signature, “Caleb B. Smith,” on a 1 ¼” x 4” slip of paper.

Lightly and evenly toned, with old glue staining on the reverse.

U.S. Secretary of War – 1862-68

Signature, with the closing in another hand, “Yours truly, Edwin M. Stanton,” on a 1 ¼” x 3 ½” slip of paper, removed from a letter.

Lightly and evenly toned, with old glue staining on the reverse.

U.S. Secretary of War – 1862-68

President Lincoln Appoints Henry Larcom Abott a Brevet Brigadier General

War-Date Document Signed, 8” x 10,” as Secretary of War, Washington, December 2, 1864, “E.M. Stanton,” a partly printed War Department letter informing 1^st Connecticut Heavy Artillery Colonel Henry Larcom Abbott that he has been appointed to the rank of brevet brigadier general by President Lincoln, “…for gallant and distinguished services in the operations before Richmond and especially in the lines before Petersburg,” to rank from August 1, 1864.

A manuscript notation in the lower margin directs this letter through Army of the Potomac Commanding General George G. Meade.

Condition is very good, with light toning and the usual horizontal folds.

U.S. Senator - Illinois - 1855-73; Co-authored the Thirteenth Amendment – Prohibiting Slavery in the United States

Signed Card, 2” x 3 ½”, as U.S. Senator from Illinois, “Lyman Trumbull, Ill[inois].”

The card is lightly and evenly toned, with old mounting remnants on the reverse.

Union Brigadier General - Pennsylvania; Returned the Body of John Brown for Burial after His Execution

At the request of his Quaker mother, Tyndale turned down an appointment to West Point to enter his father’s ceramics business. He escorted Mrs. John Brown to visit her imprisoned husband on the night before his execution, and on the trip returning his body for burial in North Elba, New York. Twice wounded, having three horses shot from under him, and being left for dead on the field at Antietam, Tynsdale resigned due to poor health on August 26, 1864.

Signature, with the rank Tyndale held from April 9, 1863 until his resignation the following year, “Hector Tyndale, Brig. Genl. U.S. Vol[unteer]s,” on a 1 ¼” x 5 ½” slip of paper; quite possibly war-date, as Tyndale resigned well before the end of the war, and was brevetted major general of volunteers on March 13, 1865.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy - 1861-69

Signature, as U.S. Navy Secretary, “Gideon Welles,” on a 1 ¾” x 3 ¼” slip of paper, removed from a letter.

Lightly and evenly toned, with a few small stains and a slightly irregular upper edge.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy - 1861-69

Signature, as U.S. Navy Secretary, “Gideon Welles,” on a 1 ¼” x 3 ¾” portion of an appointment document.

Lightly and evenly toned, with a vertical crease through the signature.