Civil War-Date Document Signed - General Grant banishes Prostitutes from the District of West Tennessee

Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 10”, a manuscript special order, signed by Rawlins as assistant adjutant general on behalf of Major General Ulysses S. Grant.  The order explicitly bans the unauthorized travel of women from northern rail points to the army’s encampments, along with their presence in camp.

“Head Quarters District of West Tennessee.
Corinth, Miss[issippi], July 20^th 1862.

Special Order
No. 139.

No females will be allowed to leave Columbus, Kentucky, or any intermediate railway Station by Railroad, to join any part of the Army of this District without a special written permit from Department Head Quarters or these Head Quarters.  All females from abroad remaining within Camp lines after the 31^st instant, not having such permits, shall be arrested and sent out of the District.  Division, Brigade, Port, Regimental, and Company Commanders will see to the faithful execution of this order throughout their respective Commands.

By Command of Maj[or] Gen[eral] U.S. Grant.
Jno. A. Rawlins,
Ass[istan]t Adj[uta]nt Gen[era]l.

As early-war offensives made inroads into Confederate territory, both east and west, the occupying Union Army was inevitably followed by another, consisting of profiteers and opportunists of all types, including prostitutes.  By this order, Grant intends to thwart the proliferation of prostitution among army personnel in the newly occupied regions of Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and Alabama, secured by the recent Union victory at the Battle of Shiloh.

Excellent, with light, even toning and two horizontal folds.

Signed Card, 2 ½” x 4”, March 22, 1869, Washington, D.C., “John A. Rawlins,” as U.S. Secretary of War.  The recipient’s name, date, just nine days after he assumed office as secretary or war, and Rawlins’s title are accomplished in an unidentified clerical hand.

Excellent overall, with old mounting remnants on the reverse.

Civil War-Date Autograph

Signature & Rank, “John F. Reynolds, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Vol[unteer]s,” on  a 1” x 3” portion of a larger document, dated “1862” in an unidentified hand at lower left.

An excellent early-war example, with the rank Reynolds held from August 20, 1861 until promotion to major general, effective November 29, 1862.

Signed Card, 2” x 3 ½”, “J.M. Rusk,” with bevelled edges and rounded corners.

Excellent, with light, even toning; old mounting remnants on the reverse.

Signature, as U.S. Representative from New York, “E. Sherrill, Shandaken, N. York,” on a 2 ¾” x 5” portion of an album page.

Lightly and evenly toned; somewhat closely trimmed at the upper edge.

Document Signed, 8 ¼” x 10”, an early manuscript Frederick County, Maryland court filing, recommending the admission of a man as an attorney; docketed “15^th February 1811” on the reverse.         

“To the Hon[ora]ble the Judges of Frederick County Court.  The subscribers appointed by the court to report on the application of Mr. Addison White to be admitted as a member of the Bar, do hereby respectfully certify to the court that it is their opinion Mr. White should be admitted to qualify as an attorney of Frederick County Court.  John Harison Thomas.  R.B. Taney.”

Exhibiting the usual folds and light toning, with heavier wear, staining, and chipping at the corners and edges.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Autograph Document Signed, a partly printed 2 ¾” x 6” check, “Tennessee Williams, 632 ½ St. Peter.”  From his New Orleans residence, early in the year when the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” undoubtedly Williams’ most notable work, was first performed to critical acclaim. Drawn on the Whitney National Bank of New Orleans, also dated and engrossed in his hand: “Jan[uary] 4 1947,” payable to Waguesback [sic] -Pratt Co.” for “Seventy five no/100” Dollars.  

Reverse bears the recipient’s stamped endorsement. The signature is unaffected by hole-punch cancellation, as well as several minor creases.