War-Date Letter Signed – City Point, Virginia, September 1864 – Bills of Lading for the “Steamer Charlotte Vanderbilt.”

Civil War-Date Letter Signed, on an imprinted 7 ½” x 9 ½” form.  Partly printed, with the manuscript portions also being accomplished by James.

“Assistant Quartermaster’s Office, Fort Monroe, V[irgini]a, Sept[ember] 26th 1864.  Captain Col[onel] P.P. Pilkin, A[ssistant] Q[uarter] M[aster] City Point, Va.  Col[onel], I have the honor to enclose herewith, duplicate Bills of Lading for Public Stores, shipped this day per Steamer Charlotte Vanderbilt.  Please endorse and return one at your earliest convenience.  Very respectfully Your Ob[e]d[ien]t Servant, Wm. L. James, Capt[ain] and A[ssistant] Q[uarter] M[aster].”

Lightly and evenly toned, with two horizontal folds; there is a small tear, with minor paper loss, in the upper left corner.

Signed Gilt-Edged Card, 1 ¼” x 3 ½”, “J.E. Johnston.”  Affixed to a 4” x 6 ¾” album page, with the violet-ink notation, “January/[18]82” in another hand at lower left.  An unrelated clipping in an unidentified hand and from a larger document or letter is affixed at lower right.

Excellent.

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.

Document Signed, Richmond, Virginia, February 6, 1886, “J.L. Kemper,” a partly printed 2 ½” x 8” check, also accomplished by Kemper, payable to “Cha[rle]s J. Kemper,” thus incorporating a second partial signature; drawn on The State Bank of Virginia for one hundred dollars.  The reverse is endorsed by Charles J. Kemper.

Very good overall, with light vertical fold creases; minimal loss of paper from barely noticeable cross-cut and punch cancellations which intersect Kemper’s signature.

Signature, “L.Q.C. Lamar,” with the notation “Sec[retary] of Interior” in an unknown hand, on the reverse of his engraved 1 ¾” x 3 ½” personal calling card.

Excellent, with light, even toning and a few superficial stains.

Autograph Letter Signed, 7 ¼” x 9 ¼”, thanking one “J.H. Coghill, Esq[uire], New York City,” for the gift of a book.

“Richland, Stafford Co[unty], V[irgini]a,
Feb[ruary] 10, 1880.

My dear Sir,

I beg that you will accept my thanks for the book you were kind enough to send me, and I must also tender my congratulations for the excellent manner displayed in grouping the material, you have so carefully gathered, in such handsome form.

Grateful too, for the Kind feelings expressed for myself,

I am very truly yours,
Fitzhugh Lee.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with the expected folds; tipped to slightly larger backing at the edges.

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.

A Requisition for Hampton’s Legion

Civil War-Date Document Signed, 8” x 11”, Petersburg, Virginia, August 31, 1863, “Approved, T.M. Logan, L[ieutenan]t Col[on el] Com[man]d[in]g Reg[imen]t,” a partly printed requisition “For Quartermaster’s Stores for Hampton Legion, Stationed at Petersburg, V[irgini]a.”

On the brown “necessity paper” commonly used by the Confederate Army at the time, with several minor stains throughout; small tears and chips at the right edges.  While manuscript portions are somewhat light, Logan’s endorsement, at left center, is quite legible.

Signature, with sentiment, “Respect[full]y Your Ob[edien]t Serv[an]t,” on a 1 ½” x 5 ½” slip of lined paper, possibly removed from a letter.

Lightly and evenly toned, with a vertical fold at mid left.

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.

Signature, with closing and rank, “Respectfully, L. McLaws, 2^nd Lieut[enant] 7^th 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.