DS as president, one page, 15.75 x 10.25, April 20, 1815. President Madison appoints Squire Lea “ a surgeon in the forty fourth regiment of the Infantry in the service to the United States.” Signed at the bottom in black ink by Madison and countersigned by his Acting Secretary of War. A quick search reveals Lea was a Harvard educated military surgeon, scholar and traveler who was killed in a duel in Louisiana on Bayou Manchac in 1828. In very good condition, with overall toning, worn seal, first name of signature a bit light but completely legible, a bisecting vertical fold and a few wrinkles. R&R COA.
