Sold – President Andrew Johnson Promotes a Noted Civil War Hero to Major General
With Lincoln's body still lying in state in Washington, Johnson brevets Samuel W. Crawford a major general for bravery.
President, the first to take office due to an assassination.
Document Signed as President, 1 page folio on vellum, with engravings of an eagle at top and flags, cannon and other accouterments of war at bottom, April 20, 1865, granting Union General Samuel W. Crawford the brevet rank of Major General for...
President, the first to take office due to an assassination.
Document Signed as President, 1 page folio on vellum, with engravings of an eagle at top and flags, cannon and other accouterments of war at bottom, April 20, 1865, granting Union General Samuel W. Crawford the brevet rank of Major General for gallantry at the Battles of The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Bethesda Church, Weldon Railroad, Petersburg, Jericho Mills, and for service throughout the war. Crawford was a commanding general at Gettysburg and Antietam, and highly thought of. The document has a particularly large and dark signature of Johnson, is countersigned by Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War, and still has its blue seal.
Johnson stopped personally signing these commissions early on, so they are uncommon for officers of any rank. This one, making a leader of Crawford’s stature a Major General, is therefore especially of interest. Lincoln’s funeral was held the day before the date of this document, and it is fascinating to note that while his body had not yet left Washington for its final journey to Illinois and was lying in state at the Capitol, it was apparently business as usual for the government, promoting officers and awaiting Johnston’s surrender to Sherman to end the war.
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