BURNSIDE, AMBROSE EVERETT (1824-81) Union Major General; Commanded the Union Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Fredericksburg; Governor of Rhode Island – 1866-69; U.S. Senator – Rhode Island – 1875-81

Early Civil War-Date Pass

Autograph Document Signed, 3” x 5”, a rare handwritten pass from Burnside’s early-war encampment near Washington, D.C., named for Rhode Island Governor William Sprague.

“Camp Sprague.  Washington, June 6^th 1861.  Pass Serg[ean]t Crandall till eleven o’clock.  A.E. Burnside, Col[onel] Com[man]d[in]g.”

Pencil notations in an unknown hand on the reverse list several identified enlisted men of the 1^st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry.  The 1^st Rhode Island Infantry under the command of Colonel Burnside was actively engaged at the Battle of First Bull Run, July 21, 1861 and returned to Providence, Rhode Island, where the unit was mustered out on August 2, 1861.  Colonel Burnside re-entered Union service soon afterward and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, effective August 6, 1861.

Lightly toned, with somewhat heavier soiling and wear at vertical and horizontal fold lines; a few small tears and minor chips at the edges.