Civil War-Date Endorsement Signed – Just six weeks before Hill’s death at the Battle of Petersburg

War-Date Endorsement Signed, on a 3 ¾” x 7” portion from the reverse of a medical furlough document.  Signed beneath by an adjutant, and on the reverse by two surgeons and 47^th North Carolina Infantry Sergeant Joseph Young Moss.

“H[ea]d Q[uarte]rs 3^rd Army Corps, Feb[ruar]y 17, 1865.  Res[pectfully] forwarded approved, A.P. Hill, Lieutenant Gen[era]l.”

A.P Hill was killed-in-action at the Battle of Petersburg, Virginia just six weeks after the signing of this endorsement.  Modern records indicate that Sergeant Moss was wounded and captured during the Battle of Gettysburg, later exchanged, and was again captured on the day of Hill’s death at Sutherland’s Station, Virginia.

On the medium-brown paper often used by the Confederates, thus a bit lacking in contrast, with the expected light fold creases.

Signature, with place and date also in Hill’s hand, “Fort Clinch, Fl[orid]a, Jan[uary] 31^st 1850, A.P. Hill, 1^st Art[illery],” on a 1 ¾” x 3 ¼” portion of a military document.

A large, bold example, in stark contrast to the smaller and lighter signings from many of Hill’s Civil War-time documents and letters.

Civil War-Date Signature & Rank

Signature, with sentiment and early-war rank, “Yours Sincerely, Joseph Hooker, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l,” on a 2” x 3 ¼” slip of lined paper, affixed to heavier backing of the same dimension.

Lightly and evenly toned, with minor wear and staining; portions affected by brushing and bleeding of ink, along with surface abrasion.

Signed Album Page, 4 ¾” x 7 ¼”, “Andrew Johnson.”

Excellent, with light, even toning and original binding holes at the left edge.

Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 9 ¾”, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 14, 1828, “H. Johnson,” as governor on an imprinted form with a beautifully embossed seal at lower left, appointing a judge in West Feliciana Parish.

A seldom-seen document, with light, even toning; minor separation, with no loss of paper, at the usual vertical and horizontal folds; a few chips at the uneven left edge.

Signed Program, 4” x 6”, as President on the front cover, “Lyndon B. Johnson,” for a White House event honoring the President of the Philippines, October 5, 1964, featuring The Harkness Ballet.

On heavy paper, lightly and evenly toned, with superficial wear and soiling.

Mexican War-Date Signature & Rank

Signature & Rank, “P. Kearny, Jr., L[ieutenan]t 1^st Dr[agoon]s Com[man]d[ing]…” on a 1 ½” x 5” slip of paper; a portion of the document from which Kearny’s signature was removed is included, and bears the manuscript heading, in an unknown hand, “Date. 31^st December 1846.  Station. Saltillo, (Mexico).”

Minor wear and staining, with two pinholes at the left edge of the dated slip of paper.

Autograph Letter Signed, 7 ¾” x 10 ¾”, one page.  As Post Engineer at Fort Hamilton, situated at the mouth of New York Harbor in Brooklyn, Lee writes to a materials supplier, ordering hydraulic cement, commonly used to construct and repair stone and cement structures, even underwater.  While serving as post engineer at Fort Hamilton, 1841-46, Lee is credited with the design and construction of several New York-area fortifications, notably Fort Richmond, Fort Tompkins, and the forts at Willetts Point and Sandy Hook.

 “Henry Wilde, Esq[uir]e,

Sec[retar]y Newark L, & C, Ms. Co.,

Fort Hamilton, N[ew[ Y[ork],

11 April 1843.

Sir,

I have rec[eive]d your letter of the 18 Ult[im]o, offering to furnish me with fresh hydraulic Cement @ $1.25/100 per cask of 300 lbs., deducting 12 ½ c[ents] per cask for those returned.  I will thank you to send me to this place 50 Casks with as little delay as practicable.  The cement must be fresh, & the Casks light & strong.  You may also send 10 Casks of Lime.

Very respectf[ull]y Your Ob[edien]t Serv[an]t,

R.E Lee,

Capt[ain] Eng[ineer]s.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with minor soiling and wear and the expected folds; the integral leaf, addressed in another hand, is bound by a paper strip at the left edge, and has a small hole well beneath the address from the opening of a no-longer-present wax seal.

War-Date Autograph Letter Signed – to Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard

Autograph Letter Signed, on a 5” x 8” folded lettersheet, with exceptional early-war content, to General P.G.T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate Army at Manassas, Virginia.  As newly commissioned major general, Longstreet informs and seeks Beauregard’s direction in the placement of “blackened logs,” commonly referred to as “Quaker Guns” at the time, designed to deceive the Union Army into believing that they faced the heavy artillery of a well-equipped foe on the banks of the Potomac.                                                                                                             

“Taylors, Dec[ember] 6^th 1861.  My Dear General, But two of the Redoubts have been set apart for the batteries of my Division.  I have ordered sheds over the embrasures of these and blackened logs put in there; no others.  If you desire me to have others fixed please advise me.  Very Sincerely Yours, J. Longstreet.  [to] Gen[eral] G.T. Beauregard.”

Beauregard makes initialed notation, in pencil, at the bottom edge:

“Ans[wer].  Arrange all to be garrisoned by the 2^nd Division.  G.T.B.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Signature, with the rank held from June 11, 1851 through the outbreak of the American Civil War, “N. Lyon, Capt[ain], 2^nd Inf[antr]y, Com[mandin]g Comp[an]y ‘B’”, on a 3” x 4 ¼” slip of lined paper.

Lightly and evenly toned, with a few superficial stains; old mounting traces on the reverse.

Autograph Letter Signed, 8” x 10”, requesting a cask of wine be sent to Fort Independence, Massachusetts. 

“Boston, 5^th 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 3^rd 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] 28^th 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 20^th.  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.

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 101^st 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 101^st 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 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 2^nd Cav[alry] Div[ision] D[epartment] [of] W[est] V[irginia].  Front Royal, V[irgini]a, Nov[ember] 3^rd 1864.  Mr. C.L. Pascal, Philadelphia, P[ennsylvani]a.  Sir, Your request bearing date Oct[ober] 22^nd 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.

PRICE, STERLING (1809-67)  Confederate Major General; Governor of Missouri – 1853-57; U.S. Representative – Missouri – 1845-46; Veteran of the Mexican & Missouri Mormon Wars

MILLER, MADISON (1811-96) Union Brevet Brigadier General; Colonel of the 18^th 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.