Sold – Lincoln Requests Appointment of Future General Frederick A. Starring, Praising His Merits

Mason Brayman was an attorney in Springfield and a close friend and colleague of Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln went to Congress in 1847, Brayman rented his home in Springfield; when Lincoln spoke at the Cooper Union in 1860, Brayman accompanied him. They also worked together representing the Illinois Central Railroad. When the Civil War broke out, Brayman volunteered and was named a general, serving throughout the war. Frederick A. Starring was Brayman’s nephew, and Brayman secured for him a a position with the Illinois Central Railroad doing engineering, mainly construction surveys and assisting with the organization of its Land Department. Starring was Secretary of the Land Department of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad in Little Rock when the Civil War broke out. While in Arkansas, Fred Starring witnessed the secession fervor that swept the South in early 1861. "The people are crazy," he wrote from Arkansas. But his loyalty remained steadfast, “I will still hope – still pray for the Union.” He was a volunteer aide at the first Bull Run battle. Returning to Illinois, he began efforts to obtain a commission. Illinois congressmen were little help, but then his application came to the attention of President Lincoln himself, who had known Starring from the time he was a child.

Lincoln did something unusual; he wrote Starring a personal recommendation, directed to the Secretary of War, vouching for him and requesting his appointment.

Autograph Letter Signed as President, Washington, August 20, 1861, to Secretary of War Simon Cameron. “Mr. Frederick A. Starring has an application on file  in your Department to be a Captain or Lieutenant in the Army. I have some personal acquaintenance with Mr. Starring which is altogether favorable to him. He is a civil engineer; and I think if a vacancy can be found, a better man is not likely to fill it.” This letter is unpublished and not included in Lincoln’s collected works.

Lincoln’s letter got results, as Starring was appointed Major of the 46th Illinois Infantry later that month. The next year he eventually was selected Colonel of the 1st Chicago Board of Trade Regiment of the 72nd Illinois Infantry and was later made Provost Marshall of the Gulf at New Orleans. Starring was a member of Grant's central Mississippi campaign, the Yazoo Pass Expedition, the Battle of Champion Hills, Big Black River, and the siege and assaults on Vicksburg. He was made Brigadier General by Brevet in March 1865. After the war, Starring assisted in the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic and was appointed Inspector General in 1869, helping to design the G.A.R. badge and a large portion of the ritual. President Grant appointed Starring as an agent to examine consular and diplomatic affairs in Europe in July 1869. Starring resigned from public office in 1883 and moved to New York to practice law. He died in 1904.