Details
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President. Engraved document signed in full as President, countersigned by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, Washington, D.C., 1 July 1864. One page, large folio, ON FINE PARCHMENT, elaborately engraved and accomplished in manuscript, pale green seal of the United States at upper left, finely engraved with bold heading "The President of the United States," beneath which an American Eagle and the "E Pluribus Unum" motto, large vignette of crossed flags, cannons and other military paraphenalia at bottom, with small legend "Engraved by J. V .N. and C. H. Throop, Washn. City," signatures slightly pale, but in very good condition, appoints William H. Emory a Colonel in the Fifth Regiment of Cavalry.
LINCOLN'S APPOINTMENT OF A DISTINGUISHED "INDIAN FIGHTER" AND THE SURVEYOR OF THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER
William Helmsley Emory (1811-1887), born in Maryland, graduated 14th in a class of 33 from the U.S. Military Academy in 1831 and served for five years with the 4th Artillery in various garrisons. Resigning in 1836, he studied civil engineering, was recommissioned in 1838 a Topographical Engineer, and commanded the northeastern boundary survey between the U.S. and Canada. Then, during the Mexican War, he saw action against the Indians with Kearny's California Expedition (where he was twice brevetted for gallantry), surveyed the California-Mexico border, was again brevetted, served in Kansas, and completed a Utah survey. At the outbreak of the Civil War, stationed at Fort Washita, Texas in command of the lst U.S. Cavalry, Emory routed and captured of the advance guard of the Texas Confederate militia before ordering his forces north to Fort Leavenworth. He resigned on 9 May, but a few days later was reappointed Lt. Colonel, 6th U.S. Cavalry. In a letter of June 17 (see Basler, 4:409) Lincoln specifically recommends Emory's promotion to full Colonel. And in a letter of 13 June to Secretary of War Cameron (Basler Suppl. 1:78, sold Christies, 14 May 1992, lot 108), the President specifically ordered that Emory be reinstated.
Lincoln, it seems, read the man's credentials accurately, for Emory's subsequent war record, in various commands, was as distinguished as it was lengthy. He retired, a Brigadier General, in 1876. Sold with 1) Emory's commission as Major General of Volunteers, 10 March 1866, with stamped signature of Andrew Johnson 2) Emory's commission as Lieutenant Colonel by brevet "for valuable and distinguished services as Commissioner for running the Boundary Line between the United States and the Republic of Mexico," 26 June 1860, signed by President James Buchanan. (3)
LINCOLN'S APPOINTMENT OF A DISTINGUISHED "INDIAN FIGHTER" AND THE SURVEYOR OF THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER
William Helmsley Emory (1811-1887), born in Maryland, graduated 14th in a class of 33 from the U.S. Military Academy in 1831 and served for five years with the 4th Artillery in various garrisons. Resigning in 1836, he studied civil engineering, was recommissioned in 1838 a Topographical Engineer, and commanded the northeastern boundary survey between the U.S. and Canada. Then, during the Mexican War, he saw action against the Indians with Kearny's California Expedition (where he was twice brevetted for gallantry), surveyed the California-Mexico border, was again brevetted, served in Kansas, and completed a Utah survey. At the outbreak of the Civil War, stationed at Fort Washita, Texas in command of the lst U.S. Cavalry, Emory routed and captured of the advance guard of the Texas Confederate militia before ordering his forces north to Fort Leavenworth. He resigned on 9 May, but a few days later was reappointed Lt. Colonel, 6th U.S. Cavalry. In a letter of June 17 (see Basler, 4:409) Lincoln specifically recommends Emory's promotion to full Colonel. And in a letter of 13 June to Secretary of War Cameron (Basler Suppl. 1:78, sold Christies, 14 May 1992, lot 108), the President specifically ordered that Emory be reinstated.
Lincoln, it seems, read the man's credentials accurately, for Emory's subsequent war record, in various commands, was as distinguished as it was lengthy. He retired, a Brigadier General, in 1876. Sold with 1) Emory's commission as Major General of Volunteers, 10 March 1866, with stamped signature of Andrew Johnson 2) Emory's commission as Lieutenant Colonel by brevet "for valuable and distinguished services as Commissioner for running the Boundary Line between the United States and the Republic of Mexico," 26 June 1860, signed by President James Buchanan. (3)