Autograph Letter Signed.
This career U.S. Army officer is often remembered as commander of the "Iron Brigade; while commanding the 2nd Division, he was badly wounded in the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862 and his division took part in many major engagements, including Gettysburg; after the war he led the expedition against Sitting Bull and fought Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. Item #51821
ALS, 3pp (lettersheet), 5" X 8", Vancouver Barracks, WA, 13 July 1890. Addressed to Tompkins (possibly MOH winner Brigadier General Charles H. Tompkins, 1830-1915; or possibly his son, Selah Reeve Hobbie Tompkins, 1864-1939, who served under Gibbon at Fort Laramie, Wyoming). Near fine. On letterhead of "Headquarters Dept. of the Columbia," which Gibbon commanded from 1886 to 1890, he writes: "Had you along been over[?] I should have felt disposed to write you a letter of condolence. So the matter stands I send my congratulations. The thing has turned out fortunately for you personally. No one can now say you were jumped for personal or political reasons. I fear we shall now have appointments made in the Army on the principle Mr. Cleveland made them until he gets back again & until a change is made the Army must continue to be the football of politicians. I do not question the good qualities of the new QM Gen'l but it was not necessary to slap six others in the face in order to recognize them...." Nicely penned in Gibbon's large, clear script and signed in full at the close. Intriguing if cryptic content, but given the Quartermaster General content the more likely recipient is Charles Tompkins, who served in the Quartermaster Corps in the 1880s until retirement in 1894. The letter is tastefully double-matted in cream and green (double sided, with one portion displayed on verso) alongside a 7¼" X 9¼" high-quality modern reproduction of a well-known head-and-shoulders portrait of Gibbon in uniform and an engraved 5" X 3½" plate listing his name, birth/death years and brief text. A handsome presentation, overall dimensions 23" X 18½"
Price: $495.00