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.

Letter Signed, 5 ¼” x 8”, as company president on official stationery, a pass for one Hattie Fitch from Chicago to New York.

“PULLMAN’S PALACE CAR CO., OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, CHICAGO, Oct[ober] 15^th, 1879.  To the Conductor Hotel Car via Pittsburgh: This will be presented by Miss Hattie Fitch, who is on her way to New York.  Please make her journey as comfortable as possible, and on arrival send a Porter with her to the Windsor Hotel.  Geo. M. Pullman, President.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with vertical and horizontal folds at the center.

Signed Card, 3” x 4 ¾”, dated and inscribed, “James R. Randall, Augusta, G[eorgi]a.  March 21, 1891.  For Miss Louise Parkinson.”  

Lightly and evenly toned, with several minor stains; bumping at the upper left corner; old mounting remnants on the reverse.

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.

A West Point, New York Postmark

Autograph Letter Signed, 7 ¾” x 9 ¾”.  As a young, antebellum U.S. Army officer, Smith communicates regarding the conveyance of funds.  Addressed by Smith to a banking company in New Orleans, the integral leaf bears a desirable postmark from West Point, New York, home of the U.S. Military Academy, where Smith was at the time employed as an instructor. 

“West Point, N[ew] Y[ork], Dec[ember] 20^th 1850. 

Messrs. Watts & De Saulles,

Gentlemen,

I received yesterday yours of the 9^th Dec[ember], enclosing “original of J. Corning & Co[mpany]’s check on Corning & Co[mpany] New York,” dated Dec[ember] 9^th No. 27089 in my favor for five hundred dollars, $500.  I will in compliance with your request acknowledge the receipt of the same to M.A. Smith by this days mail.

Very Respectfully Yours,
Gus. W. Smith, 
Capt[ain] U.S. Army.”
_________________________

Heavier staining and wear at the edges, with the expected folds and a few chips at the edges; there is significant wrinkling of paper in the lower corners and edges, all well away from the text of the letter.

Signature, as U.S. Representative, “Wm. L. Stoughton, M[ember] C[ongress],” on a 1 ¼” x 3 ¾” lightly and evenly toned portion of an album page.

Civil War-Date

Signed Postal Cover, 3 ¼” x 5 ¼”, homemade from a printed 1862 Confederate military document, addressed to his wife, “Mrs. Flora Stuart, H[ea]d Q[uarte]rs Cav[alry] Div[isio]n, Army N[orthern] V[irgini]a.”  Also signed at the upper left corner by Confederate Colonel and Aide-de-Camp Samuel Bassett French.

Front and reverse portions are detached, from heavy wear at the edges; several chips and tears at the edges affect none of the text.

Signature, “John M. Thayer, Nebraska,” an enormous example as U.S. Senator on a 4 ½” x 7” album page.

Excellent, with light, even toning.

Civil War-Date

Autograph Letter Signed, 7 ¾” x 9 ¾”, as early-war colonel of the 29^th New York Volunteer Infantry, informing the New York adjutant general of an appointment.

“New York, June 4^th 1861. 

Gen[e]r[a]l S. Meredith Read, Jr., Adjutant General.

Sir,

I have the honor to inform you, that I have appointed Mr. Wm. Livingstone Rogers Paymaster of the 29^th Regiment.

Mr. Rogers will present two sureties, recognizing in the amount of Twenty Thousand Dollars each, to his Excellency, Governor Morgan, for approval, and then report for duty.

Your very ob[e]d[ien]t Servant,
Col[onel] A. von Steinwehr,
Com[man]d[in]g 29^th Reg[imen]t.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with the usual folds and light creases; paper loss at the lower left corner, well away from all text.

Signed Card, 2 ¼” x 4”, with rank, “J.F.Wade, Brig[adier] Gen[era]l U.S.A.”

Excellent, with light, even toning.

Signature, “Fitz Henry Warren,” on a 1” x 2 ½” portion of a document as “SECOND ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL.”

Affixed to larger backing.

Signature & Rank, “J.D. Webster, B[rigadier] G[eneral],” on a 1” x 3” slip of lined paper.

Lightly and evenly toned, with old hinge remnants on the reverse.

Document Signed, 7 ¾” x 12 ½”, March 15, 1879, Lawrence County, Alabama, “Jos. Wheeler,” a partly printed legal document; accomplished in a clerical hand and signed by Wheeler beneath.

Moderate toning and wear, with a few small holes along the usual horizontal folds; heavier staining at center; chipping and irregularity at the edges and corners.  

Signature & Rank, “William D. Whipple, B[re]v[e]t Maj[or] Gen[eral] U.S. Army,” on a 3 ½” x 5 ¾” album page, with the signature and rank of Union Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Walter Burke on the reverse: “J.W. Burke, Col[one]l 10^th Ohio Inf[an]t[r]y & Brevet Brig[adier] Gen[era]l Vol[unteer]s.”

Lightly and evenly toned, with several light creases; chips and pinholes at the formerly bound edge.

Document Signed, 2 ¾” x 7 ¼”, Washington, D.C., December 2, 1918, “A.V. Zane,” an imprinted check also accomplished by Zane just a month before his death, drawn on The Riggs National Bank for twenty dollars.

Hole-punch cancellation, well away from the signature.