Highly respected senior commander of the Union Army (1820-1863) who played a key role in committing the Army of the Potomac to the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was killed at the very start of the battle. Important Civil War-dated ALS signed “John F. Reynolds, Maj. Gen. Vols. Comdg.,” one page, 5 x 8.25, Head Quarters 1st Army Corps letterhead, March 25, 1863. Handwritten letter to Congressman Moses F. Odell of New York, then serving as a member of the partisan Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, regarding the casualties sustained in the Union Army's loss at the Battle of Fredericksburg. In part: "I enclose a copy of the order…from Genl. Burnside to Genl. Franklin, on the morning of the 13th of Dec. '62, also, Copy of Return of Corps Dec. 16 '62 showing the strength of the Division…showing the strength present in the ranks on the 14th & the losses of the 13th…list of the casualties (made after the return to camp)…The Returns show only the strength 'Present for Duty.'" In fine condition. Accompanied by an original carte-de-visite portrait of John F. Reynolds by J. E. McClees of Philadelphia, and a stereoview photograph of the tree under which Gen. Reynolds was killed at Gettysburg.
The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a Congressional committee created to handle issues surrounding the Civil War, established on December 9, 1861, following the embarrassing Union defeat at Ball's Bluff. Among matters investigated by the committee were illicit trade with the Confederate states, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union battle losses. In this instance, they were investigating the Battle of Fredericksburg, which saw over 12,000 Union casualties in one of the most lopsided defeats of the war. Under command of Ambrose Burnside, the Army of the Potomac made several futile frontal attacks against Robert E. Lee's entrenched forces. Reynolds commanded forces in the southern part of the battlefield against Stonewall Jackson and A. P. Hill. Ultimately, Burnside's rash decisions at Fredericksburg would lead to his condemnation by the committee and removal from command. A rare war-dated handwritten letter by John F. Reynolds, communicating important military content back to the powers in Washington.
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