10 April 1865

Humphreys, Andrew Atkinson, 1810-1883

Document

Title: [Farewell address to 2nd Army Corps]

One day after Lee's surrender, General Humphreys issues a circular letter congratulating his men on having "done your full share in the Grand Closing scene." Issued as major general commanding; verified as official by Adjutant General Daniel Hart. Lists their achievements including pursuing General Robert E. Lee's army while they were in retreat toward the end of the war, the capture of prisoners, ammunitions, and supplies, and their victorious efforts at Petersburg. Thanks individual officers. On verso, additionally confirmed as official by another aid with his pencil signature.

GLC07307

6 January 1864

Couthouy, Joseph Pitty, 1808-1864

Letter signed

Title: to David Dixon Porter

Couthouy, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant commanding the U.S.S. Chillicothe, expresses his mortification at seeing the U.S.S. Osage, a ship formerly under his command, listed as having failed to comply with General Order No. 31, which required monthly reports of contrabands. Informs Navy Rear Admiral Porter that no list of contrabands was sent after August 1863 because Couthouy had been "instructed that freed blacks, regularly enlisting in the Naval Service of the United States, ceased thereupon, to be regarded as 'Contrabands.'" States that Lieutenant Commander Frank M. Ramsay, Commanding the…

GLC07308

3 January 1866

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John A. Andrew

Writes to the Governor of Massachusetts that he believes Massachusetts did its share in the Civil War. "The physical battle has been fought and a new one of ideas has begun. In this your state is preeminently gratified to take a leading part ... during the war I was constantly with Massachusetts men who are imminently practical, moral and useful citizens ... " Assures Andrew that he will do whatever is in his authority to protect Massachusetts citizens.

GLC07309

1842/03/24

Hatchett, Samuel, fl. 1842

Manuscript document signed

Title: Cherokee Indian "Spoilatia" claim against U.S. Goverment (signed with cross)

Claim for of $125.25 written after Winfield Scott and troops confiscated his property during the "Trail of Tears." Signed by Hatchchett with his mark, a cross ("+").

GLC07310

22 August 1862-21 June 1865

Gihon, J. L., fl. 1862-1865

Photograph album

Title: Battery "G" Penna. Vols. Aug. 22, 1862. June 21, 1865.

Oval albumen prints of members of the Battery G, Pennsylvania Volunteers bound in an album. All unidentified group photos, one is of members of the band. Leather cover is severely deteriorated with red rot.

GLC07315

1861 ca.

Photograph

Title: [1st Lieutenant James J. Lowell]

Oval photograph of Lowell, a 1st Lieutenant in the 20th Massachusetts Volunteers. Shown in full-length in dress coat on crutches.

GLC07316

17 March 1909

Mosby, John S., 1833-1916

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Chinn

Written on Department of Justice stationery. Orders Chinn to go to the Gazette Office the following day and obtain fifteen copies for which Mosby previously paid. Declares, "I have no objection to anybody knowing that I am the author but I made the piece anonymous because I disliked the publicity of being in a controversy with such a creature as Binns, & (2) I thought it wd be more effective if I wrote in the third person... Two hundred years from now Binns will be riding around Fairfax begging somebody to kill him... Hereafter Binns should be known as the Wandering Jew. The brand of…

GLC07347

1864 ca.

Gardner, Alexander, 1821-1882

Photograph signed

Title: Self-portrait of Alexander Gardner

Carte de visite portrait, full-length seated self-portrait. Imprint on verso.

GLC07348

20 February 1841

Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benjamin P. McNeil

New Hampshire Senator Pierce writes to his nephew in Boston, Massachusetts, to offer him congratulations on his acceptance at West Point. Advises him that "this will be that period when your character will receive the stamp and impress that will probably go with it thro' life." Encloses for his edification a copy of a letter of support and encouragement (not included here) that he has written to "the only son of the late Jas. B. Thornton," an orphan. Docketed.

GLC07352

3 July 1852

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Adams

Thanks Adams, possibly an underground railroad conductor, for the invitation to Independence Day events at Fall River, Massachusetts, but cannot make it. Sends his sentiments instead which he calls trite but necessary. "Defenders of the Constitution, let us not forget the principles of the Declaration; but for the equal support of both, in the spirit of our fathers, without compromise & with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, let us mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes & our sacred honor." Addressed to Robert Adams as Chairman.

GLC07356.01

10 May 1864

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Presidential authority to the Secretary of State to affix the seal to the pardon of George Ward]

Ward was convicted of highway robbery; the jurors petitioned Lincoln for Ward's pardon.

GLC07361

11 April 1862

Meigs, Montgomery C. (Montgomery Cunningham), 1816-1892

Letter signed

Title: to C. L. Pascal

Written by Brigadier General Meigs as Quartermaster General of the Army. References Pascal's letter of 6 April 1862 that enclosed illustrations of his plan for sinking the CSS "Merrimac." Says they have been referred to the Secretary of the Navy. Written on letterhead of the Quartermaster General's Office. File includes a small (5.1 x 4.1 cm.) engraving of Meigs's head.

GLC07363

1900/11/10

Mosby, John S., 1833-1916

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sam Houston re: information to be used in biography of Gov. John Letcher

Written in blue ink. (Water damage.)

GLC07346

19 September 1861

Lane, James Henry, 1814-1866

Broadside

Title: Proclamation to the People of Western Missouri, Now Occupied by the Kansas Brigade

Proclamation signed in print by Brigadier General Lane, who was also a U.S. Senator from Kansas (1861-1866). Proclamation was written by T.J. Anderson, Lieutenant of Engineers and Acting Assistant Adjutant General. Proclamation written in response to a group of Kansasans who armed and organized themselves. Lane says if they have simply armed to defend their property, then a quick understanding can be found. Says his unit was formed to protect Kansas from the rebels, not attack the worried property owners. Urges the population to put down arms and support the Union. Says "Should you,…

GLC07349

17 April 1847

Santa Anna, Antonio López de, 1794-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Cosme Furlong [in Spanish]

Describes Battle of Cerro Gordo.

GLC07350

9 July 1826

Monroe, James, 1758-1831

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Monroe attempts to gather support for his claims for reimbursement of compensation owed for serving as United States Minister to Great Britain between 1803 and 1807, as well as performing other diplomatic duties in France. He encloses a pamphlet with related documents (not included) for his correspondent to read, and describes his claim, the interest owed, and the injustice that he has suffered by not receiving compensation. Congress awarded him $30,000 in 1831.

GLC07351

1866/03/31

Buchanan, James, 1791-1868

Autograph letter signed

Title: to [Moses Kelley] re: receiving payment on VA bonds bought prior to the War

GLC07353

circa 1850

Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Adams

Informs Adams, possibly an underground railroad train conductor in Fall River, Massachusetts, that British abolitionist George Thompson will be coming next Friday, the 13th. Tells Adams to meet him and states, "..He is a stranger and will need a conductor." Says they have no tickets and will need to get them printed. Undated. Integral address leaf.

GLC07356.02

1 April 1854

Stith, C., fl. 1854

Autograph document signed

Title: [Receipt of sale for a slave]

Signed by Stith. Receipt for the sale of a "Negro Boy Richard about fifteen or sixteen years of age..." sold for $1,000 to James W. Goodman. Refers to Richard as "a slave for life."

GLC07356.03

1783/07/17

Laurens, Henry, 1724-1792

Letter signed

Title: to Robert R. Livingston re: receiving a request from Doctor Benjamin Franklin

Asks him to come to Paris to help finalize Treaty of Paris. (Mat burn at edges; possibly bleached.)

GLC07357

27 January 1831

Curtis, Samuel Ryan, 1805-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry B. Curtis

Curtis, a future Union general, writes his older brother a long letter about his time at West Point, from which he graduated that year. Among the many plans and topics he comments on is the prejudice at the military academy of the "Yankee Staff toward the South and Westerners."

GLC07358

23 January 1865

Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889

Manuscript document signed

Title: [Document to Senate vetoing Confederate Congress Act allowing congressional appointments of midshipmen]

A document from Davis to the Confederate Senate, in which he explains his reasons for considering the act, which would allow the House, Senate, and President to select midshipmen, unconstitutional because it will infringe on the president's sole authority to make such appointments. Claims that the act is "repugnant to the whole theory of our Republican Institutions, which are based on the fundamental idea of independent and distinct functions in each of the departments of government." Parses the language of the act in relation to the Confederate Constitution.

GLC07359

21 August 1864

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Autograph document signed

Title: to James A. Seddon

Handwritten telegram on which Robert E. Lee informs Secretary of War Seddon about Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's attack against Federal troops in the Battle of Weldon Railroad (Globe Tavern) during the Petersburg campaign.: "The enemy abandoned last evg. his position north of James River & returned to the south side. This morg. Genl Hill attacked his position on Weldon R.R. - drove him from his advanced lines to his main entrenchments, from which he was not dislodged. Over 300 prisoners exclusive of wounded were captured. Our loss was principally in Hagood's brigade, which mounted enemys…

GLC07360

18 September 1862

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Letter

Title: to Jefferson Davis

Charles Marshall's (1830-1902) copy containing the substance of a letter from Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis regarding battle of Antietam. Writer inferred from handwriting. Recounts major events of the battle and states that at the end of the day "Our Army occupied the same line it had held before the Battle. The enemy I believe do the same. I have again to report the loss of many brave men."

GLC07362

1790/06/19

Newspaper

Title: Gazette of the United States. [Vol. 2, no.20 (June 19, 1790)]

Whole no. 124. re: Notice of Rhode Island's ratification of the Constitution; Washington's letter to Hebrew Congregation of Savannah; etc.

GLC07270