Item: 1861 President Abraham Lincoln Military Commission / Warrant Signed Document
Sold For: $5,500.03
Bids: 30
Date: Aug 27, 2012
Auction: Ebay
Description and Image By: walnutts
Fantastic, original 1861 Document Signed by Abraham Lincoln as President. This beautiful 13 3/4″ x 17 1/2″, engraved Military Commission is printed on vellum and signed by President Abraham Lincoln. It also signed by Simon Cameron as Secretary of War and Civil War Brigadier General Lorenzo Thomas as Adjutant General of the Army.
The Commission is dated August 6th, 1861 and appoints John Andrew Shulze “to the rank of Second Lieutenant in the “1st Regiment of Dragoons” (Regular Army). We have found that John Andrew Shulze enlisted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Dragoons (re-designated 1st Regiment US Cavalry August 3rd, 1861) and was commissioned August 6th, 1861. He was likely one of the last officers commissioned to the “Dragoons“ as the name had already been changed to the 1st Cavalry at the time this warrant was issued. We believe that Shulze was either the son or grandson of former Pennsylvania Governor John Andrew Shulze (served 1823-1829). Although the 1st Cavalry was stationed in California at the time this Warrant was issued, records show that Shulze was serving at various locations in Pennsylvania through at least November of 1861.
It should be remembered that Simon Cameron served only 10 months as Secretary of War before he was replaced by Edwin Stanton making Lincoln and Cameron signed Warrants significantly rarer than those signed by Lincoln and Stanton (who served through the end of the Civil War).
This outstanding Abraham Lincoln Signed Military Commission is in excellent condition. The vellum sheet is clean and crisp and exceptionally well preserved with just the lightest folds (as issued) and no physical damage of any kind. The only stains are 2 small and unobtrusive iron gall ink spots between the signatures of Simon Cameron and Abraham Lincoln which appear to have been caused by one of the men while signing the Document The elaborate engravings are strong and the Document retains its original, green paper, affixed seal in the upper left hand quadrant. The signature of Abraham Lincoln is nearly 4” long and large by any standard. While the manuscript entries and the signatures are just a bit faded all entries and signatures are still visually appealing and bright due to the amazingly clean quality of the vellum. This Document exhibits NONE of the usual wrinkling and shrinkage associated with vellum Documents of the 19th century and is THE most visually appealing Abraham Lincoln signed Military Commission we have come across in the past 32+ years!! The signature of President Abraham Lincoln and the Document are unconditionally guaranteed authentic and original and the Signature is unconditionally guaranteed to be in the hand of Abraham Lincoln. The Document and Signature are backed by our “no questions asked” return policy and lifetime guarantee of authenticity. The Signature and Document are unconditionally guaranteed to be deemed authentic by any third party authentication service and the Document will be accompanied by our own Letter of Authenticity with a statement of our unconditional return policy and guarantee of authenticity.
This wonderful, rare and exceptionally attractive Abraham Lincoln Signed Document is sold.