DS as president, one page, 14 x 17.5, March 12, 1851. President Fillmore appoints Ralph W. Kirkham to the position of “first Lieutenant in the Sixth Regiment of Infantry.” Signed at the conclusion in black ink by Millard Fillmore and countersigned by Secretary of War Charles Conrad. Triple cloth matted and framed with a commemorative medallion and a small color portrait, to an overall size of 22.5 x 35. In very good condition, with previous storage folds, one through first name of signature, scattered toning and soiling and Fillmore’s signature a few shades light, but completely legible. Kirkham, who accompanied Winfield Scott during the Mexican War, wrote the only first-hand account of the U.S. conquest of central Mexico. He graduated from West Point in 1842. After serving on garrison and frontier duty, he participated in the Mexican War, where he took part in the battles at Contreras and Clmrubusco and was wounded in the battle of Molino del Rey. He was noted for gallant and meritorious conduct in the storming of Chapultepec and assisted in the capture of Mexico City. While in Mexico he was one of a party of six American officers who climbed to the summit of Popocatapetl which hadn't been climbed since the time of Cortez. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA. Oversized.
