Expertly hand-drawn map of Petersburg, Virginia, by Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Louis Henry Carpenter, showing the city and its immediate surroundings with roads and major thoroughfares marked in red, and main rail lines delineated as well. The map measures 14 x 11.25 and is drawn in black and red ink on polished cotton rather than paper, labeled in ornate letters on the lower right corner: “Petersburg and Vicinity. Headquarters Cavalry Corps. A. P., Drawn by L. Henry Carpenter, Lieut. 6th U.S. Cav: A.A.D.C.” The cloth, which is folded into eighths, is in fine condition with the lettering and symbols still crisp and clearly legible, while the cloth has mild foxing scattered evenly across the surface.
Louis Henry Carpenter enlisted in the US Army on November 1, 1861, and mustered into Co. C, 6th US Cavalry. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in July of 1862 and served in Gen. Buford’s division at Gettysburg. In October of 1864 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of volunteers and assumed the position of executive officer in the newly formed 5th US Colored Cavalry, a unit made up primarily of ex-slaves and freedmen. Carpenter ended the war as a colonel of volunteers and remained in the army, volunteering for service in the 10th US Cavalry in Kansas. He led his ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ for the next thirteen years of almost continual combat fighting in the ensuing Indian Wars, winning the Medal of Honor for his part in several actions during the campaign.
During the Spanish-American War, Carpenter, by then a brevet brigadier general, was appointed a military governor in Cuba following the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. He served in that capacity until his retirement on October 19, 1899, with the rank of brigadier general. An exquisite piece of Civil War history—a beautiful object in its own right crafted by the hand of a true American hero.
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