War Date Endorsements Signed by 3 Confederate Generals

General Van Dorn was killed in 1863!

General Earl Van Dorn: (1820-63) Graduated in the West Point class of 1842 with James Longstreet. He saw service in the Indian campaigns and was brevetted captain and major for gallantry in the Mexican War. He resigned from the U.S. Army on Jan. 31, 1861, in order to join the Confederacy. Commissioned brigadier general on June 5, 1861, he was assigned to Texas where some of the Union forces there surrendered to him. Promoted to major general on Sept. 19, 1861. The following January he was appointed commander of the Army of the West in the Trans-Mississippi theater where he fought at Elkhorn Tavern. Transferred to the Army of Mississippi, he served at Corinth and Vicksburg. Placed in charge of General John C. Pemberton's cavalry, he destroyed General Grant's supply depots at Holly Springs, Miss., an important achievement in disrupting Grant's Vicksburg operations. He was murdered in his headquarters in May 1863 by a Dr. Peters, who alleged Van Dorn had violated the sanctity of his home!

General Daniel Ruggles: (1810-97) Graduated from West Point in the class of 1833, fought in the Seminole War, and earned the brevets of major and lieutenant colonel for gallantry during the Mexican War. Resigning his commission in the U.S. Army on May 7, 1861, he commanded the Virginia forces on the Rappahannock River at the opening of the Civil War. Commissioned brigadier general, August 9, 1861, he commanded a brigade during the battle of Shiloh where he rendered excellent service in gathering a large number of guns to fire on the Union position at the Hornet's Nest, and aided in the assault which caused the surrender of Prentiss' division. Thereafter, he held district and department commands at various points including the Department of Southern Mississippi and East Louisiana, and at the end of the war was commissary general of prisoners, overseeing the final exchange of Union prisoners. After the war he lived in Fredericksburg, Va., where he died, and is buried.

General Thomas Jordan: Born at Luray, Va., he graduated from West Point in 1840, where he was the roommate of future Union General, William T. Sherman. He fought in the Seminole War, and in the Mexican War, resigning his U.S. Army commission on May 21, 1861, to join the Confederate Army. He served as Adjutant General on the staff of General P.G.T. Beauregard at 1st Manassas; was Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of General Albert Sidney Johnston at Shiloh; and was promoted to brigadier general for his gallantry in this battle. He was appointed Chief of Staff to General Braxton Bragg in July 1862; and served again under Beauregard during the 1863 siege of Charleston, S.C. During the last months of the war he commanded the 3rd Military District of South Carolina. He became editor of the Memphis Appeal in 1866, and in 1869 he supported the insurrection in Cuba, becoming chief of staff and later commander of the Cuban revolutionaries. In 1870, it was said that Spain put a $100,000.00 bounty on his head.

War Date Endorsements Signed: 7 1/2 x 9 1/2, in ink.

Bayou Sara, 22nd Aug. 1862

Gen. Ruggles,

Sir,

I wish you would please to inform me being a Citizen of Prussia in Germany, and holding no property in the Confederate, or United States, if they can oblige me to serve in the Confederate Army, or do Militia duty. I never have yet applied for Naturalization papers, not voted in this Country.

Respectfully yours,
C.T. Strucke

The following endorsements are on the reverse of the document:

Respectfully forwarded, Daniel Ruggles, Brig. Genl., C.S.A. Comdg.

Hd. Qrs. Dist. of the Miss., Jackson, Miss., Aug. 31st/62. Respectfully forwarded, Earl Van Dorn, M'g. G'l.

Head Quarters, Dept. No. 2, Chattanooga, Sept. 7th/62. This question must be determined by the laws of the state of Louisiana. By command of Genl. Bragg, Thomas Jordan, Chief of Staff.