GENERAL ALFRED PLEASANTON

(1824-1897) Graduated from the West Point class of 1844. In 1846 he was awarded the brevet of first lieutenant for gallantry in the Mexican War. He later served on the Indian frontier and in Florida against the Seminoles as an officer of dragoons. Distinguished service in the 1862 Peninsular campaign gained him promotion to brigadier general. He commanded a division of the Cavalry Corps in the Antietam, Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville campaigns. Promoted to major general in June 1863, he took over command of the Cavalry Corps and directed 10,000...  

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL HENRY STANBERY

President Andrew Johnson's Chief Counsel during his impeachment trial!

(1803-81) Born in New York, he moved to Zanesville, Ohio at the age of 11. He graduated from Washington College, studied law and was admitted to the bar in Ohio in 1824. In 1846, he was elected as the first Attorney General of Ohio. President Andrew Johnson appointed him U.S. Attorney General in 1866. He resigned on March 12, 1868, to defend President Johnson during his impeachment trial. He bore the main burden of the defense and his summation glowed with loyalty and...  

JOHN G. NICOLAY

Private Secretary of President Lincoln

(1832-1901) Born in Bavaria, he came to America as a child, eventually settling in Illinois. He became editor and proprietor, in 1854, of the "Free Press" in Pittsfield, Illinois. President Elect Abraham Lincoln asked him to be his private secretary in 1860, and he served in that capacity until the president's assassination in 1865. Very few men enjoyed Lincoln's confidence as did John Nicolay. He later served as U.S. Consul at Paris, 1865-69, and as Marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1872-87....  

LIEUTENANT COLONEL GEORGE D. ROGERS

31st Wisconsin Infantry

1865 Endorsement Signed

3 1/4 x 4 1/4, in ink.

Hd. Qrs. Batt. 31 Wis. Vols., N[ea]r. Louisville, Ky., June 22, 1865. Respectfully forwarded approved. This application comes within the limit prescribed by G.O. No- Hd. Qrs., 14th A.[rmy] C.[orps]. No. men present for duty, 47. No. absent with leave, none. No. applications pending, 9. Geo. D. Rogers, Lt. Col. Comdg. Batt.

George D. Rogers, enlisted on Sept. 18, 1862, as a captain, and was commissioned into Co. G, 31st Wisconsin Infantry. He was...  

GEORGE OPDYKE, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY

1863 Check Signed

(1805-80) Clothing merchant, municipal and currency reformer. Mayor of New York City 1862-64. He became the city's first Republican mayor defeating incumbent Democratic mayor Fernando Wood, and Tammany Hall Democrat, Godfrey Gunther. During the 1863 N.Y.C. Draft Riots he remained supportive of the administration's policies including the draft. After leaving political life he became one of the founders of the Emporia and Southern Kansas Railroad in 1870.

War Date Document Signed: 8 x 3 3/4, imprinted check,...  

GENERAL CHRISTOPHER C. AUGUR

Release for officer in Old Capitol Prison!

1865 Document Signed

(1821-1885) Graduated in the West Point class of 1843 which furnished ten general officers to the North and three to the South. He was a Mexican War veteran and later became commandant of cadets at West Point. His first active field command during the Civil War was on the line of the Rappahannock during the Peninsular campaign. Augur was one of several professional soldiers victimized by General N. P. Banks's poor showing at Cedar Mountain and was severely...  

GEN. MARK F. WENTWORTH

1863 Morning Report, 27th Maine Infantry, "The Medal of Honor Regiment"

(1820-97) Born in Kittery, Maine. Attended Dartmouth Medical School, and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Was a physician before the Civil War. He enlisted on Sept. 19, 1862, at Kittery, Me., and was commissioned lieutenant colonel, 27th Maine Infantry. Promoted to colonel, 1863; mustered out of regiment, July 17, 1863. On March 6, 1864, he was commissioned colonel, 32nd Maine Infantry; wounded in action on July 30, 1864, at Petersburg, Va., when...  

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL EDWARDS PIERREPONT

War Date Document Signed

(1817-92) Born in Conn., he graduated from Yale Univ. and New Haven Law School. Was admitted to the bar in 1840 and practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, 1840-45. Served as Judge of the New York State Supreme Court, 1857-60. In 1862, he was appointed a member of the military commission for the cases of state prisoners in the custody of the Federal military authorities. He conducted the government's case against Lincoln Conspirator John H. Surratt. Appointed U.S. Attorney General by President U.S. Grant in 1875, he later...  

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR, THOMAS A. SCOTT

War Date Document Signed

Written to Maj. Gen. John E. Wool concerning Governor of North Carolina and a flag of truce!

(1823-81) Born in Loudon, Pa. Proposed the plan for President-elect Abraham Lincoln's secret entry into Washington, D.C. in 1861. At the beginning of the Civil War, Scott's great energy and efficiency in transporting Pennsylvania troops earned him the gratitude of President Lincoln and a commission of colonel. Soon afterwards he was appointed Assistant Secretary of War, and was put in charge of government railways and...  

GENERAL MILTON COGSWELL

War Date Document Signed

(1825-82) Born in Noblesville, Indiana, he graduated from West Point in 1849. Civil War Service: Colonel, 42nd New York Infantry; Colonel 2nd New York Heavy Artillery; Provost Marshal General, 9th Army Corps; Commander of Fort Columbus, New York Harbor; Brevet Brigadier General, for gallantry at the battle of Ball's Bluff, Va.

War Date Document Signed: 21 1/2 x 17, imprinted form, filled out in ink. Abstract of Provisions issued to Volunteers in the Service of the United States, at Savannah, Georgia, in...  

GENERAL JOHN P.C. SHANKS

Autographed Document Signed Twice

(1826-1901) Born at Martinsburg, Va., he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1848, and commenced practice in Portland, Indiana. Became prosecuting attorney of Jay County in 1850. Appointed colonel and a.d.c. to General John C. Fremont, Sept. 20, 1861. Commissioned colonel, 7th Indiana Cavalry, Oct. 9, 1863; promoted to brevet brigadier general, Dec. 8, 1864; and brevet major general, Mar. 13, 1865. Mustered out of service, Sept. 19, 1865. Served as U.S. Congressman, 1861-63, and 1867-75. Was chairman of...  

GENERAL JOHN A. DIX

Document Signed

(1798-1879) Joined the U.S. Army in 1813. Was New York Secretary of State, 1833-39, and was elected to the Senate in 1845. In January 1861, President Buchanan appointed him Secretary of the Treasury, and on Jan. 29, 1861, he made his famous American flag dispatch to a treasury official in New Orleans, "If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot," which became a clarion call to the North! Commissioned a Major General by Abraham Lincoln, on May 16, 1861, he was first on this list, thus...