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Civil War-dated autograph endorsement as president, signed “A. Lincoln,” dated June 9, 1863, penned on the reverse of a letter concerning appointments to the staff of Union Brigadier General James W. McMillan. Lincoln forwards the matter to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, writing: “Submitted to the Sec. of War, with request for special attention. A. Lincoln. June 9, 1863.”
The original letter, one page, 7.75 x 9.75, dated June 2, 1863, addressed by McMillan from New York City to Secretary of the Interior John P. Usher, asking him to bring his proposed staff appointments before President Lincoln. McMillan writes, in part: “They are good men and deserving and a good staff is of the utmost importance to a Brigade Commander. Please have the appointments made and notice forwarded me at once.” On the reverse, the request is summarized and identifies Oscar P. Hervey among the proposed appointments. Additional docketing records the successful outcome, noting, “Hervey appointed June 12.63,” just three days after Lincoln’s endorsement. In fine condition, with intersecting folds, one of which passes below the bottom of the signature.
A veteran Union officer, James W. McMillan was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers in November 1862 and subsequently assigned to the XIX Corps in the Department of the Gulf, holding brigade and divisional commands in Louisiana. McMillan’s decision to send this military request through Secretary of the Interior John P. Usher rather than directly to the War Department may reflect their shared Indiana connections: McMillan had organized the 21st Indiana Infantry at the outset of the war, while Usher was a prominent Indiana Republican before joining Lincoln’s cabinet. Usher evidently brought the matter before Lincoln, who personally referred it to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton “with request for special attention.” The date of Lincoln’s endorsement is particularly notable: June 9, 1863, was also the day of the Battle of Brandy Station in Virginia, the opening engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign and the largest predominantly cavalry battle of the Civil War. Although unrelated to McMillan’s request, the coincidence provides a glimpse of the routine military administration that continued to pass through Lincoln’s hands even as the war entered one of its most consequential campaigns.
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