ALS signed “U. S. Grant, General,” one lightly lined page both sides, 8 x 10, Headquarters, Army of the United States letterhead, May 22, 1868. Grant writes to three officers regarding an invitation to a reunion of the thirteenth Army corps. In full: “Your letter of the 16th enclosing me a copy of the proceedings of a meeting to arrange for a reunion of the ‘thirteenth Army Corps,’ also a badge of the Corps, and inviting me to be present at Indianapolis, IN., the first Wednesday in October, at the reunion of the Corps, is received. I notice that the Corp. has honored me by an honorary membership of their organization; I feel grateful to them and to all societies…formed from the survivors of the brave army which bore the Union through the late conflict, triumphantly, when they associate my name with theirs. If it should be so that I can meet you on the occasion referred to it will afford me the greatest pleasure; but it is not likely to so happen. With the desire that your reunion may be a happy one, and that you may have many happy returns of the same.” When first organized in October 1862, the Union Army of the Tennessee contained but one corps, the XIII, which held 11 divisions and a cavalry command. The army’s first commander was Ulysses S. Grant, who led it in the long campaigns to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Army of the Tennessee’s soldiers waged horrible war on the South’s civilian population and destroyed all public and private property within their reach. Throughout its existence, the Army of the Tennessee was constantly fighting or campaigning and earned a reputation that was second only to that of the much larger Army of the Potomac, which did all of its fighting on the eastern front of the war. The rugged western-state soldiers who served in the Army of the Tennessee ended their service with the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s rebel forces in April 1865. The next month they paraded through the streets of Washington in the grand review, and then were mustered out of service, disbanding the Army of the Tennessee for all time. In very clean, fine condition, with a rusty paperclip impression to top edge (more prominent) on reverse. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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