A Hero of Gettysburg: President Abraham Lincoln Appoints an Infantry Officer Who Would Be Promoted For Services Defending Little Round Top on July 2, 1863

Our first Lincoln appointment for an officer who helped save Little Round Top and the Battle of Gettysburg

Edward A. Guthrie served in the 11th U.S. Regiment of Infantry from from it was fully formed in 1862 until he was discharged at war’s end in August 1865. His first officer appointment was as second lieutenant, and he was promoted to first lieutenant on July 2, 1863. The regiment was assigned to the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac throughout; this was one of the great fighting units of that army. It participated in all of the great battles of the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, and then was at Second Bull Run and the disaster at Fredericksburg. The Fifth Corps was heavily engaged at Gettysburg, and instrumental in the defense of Little Round Top. Two of its generals were killed at Gettysburg, including the legendary Strong Vincent. It was for services at Gettysburg in defense of Little Round Top that Guthrie won his promotion, taking the place of Guido Lieber, who was killed. In 1864-1865 the Fifth Corps was in the vanguard of all the battles during Grant’s Overland Campaign, and was much reduced in size by casualties by the time it reached Appomattox and the victory for which it had fought so long and hard. The unit then went to occupy Richmond, where on one August night in 1865, Guthrie and some fellow soldiers got drunk, were caught, and despite all his service he was cashiered from the service. This action was appealed to Washington and overturned, and Guthrie was allowed to resign and receive an honorable discharge. His widow later received a pension for his service.

Document signed, as President, Washington, June 13, 1862, effective retroactively to June 11, 1862, an ornate, vignetted commission, with an eagle, cannons and flags, appointing Edward A. Guthrie to the rank of “Second Lieutenant in the Eleventh Regiment of Infantry.” The document is countersigned by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, and docketed at top left by Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas.