Partly-printed vellum DS, signed “G. A. Custer,” one page, 15.5 x 9.75, April 19, 1875. As commander of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory, Lt. Col. Custer appoints Ferdinand A. Culbertson as a "Corporal in Company A of the Seventh Regiment of Cavalry in the service of the United States." Signed at the conclusion by Custer and countersigned by W. W. Cooke. In very good to fine condition, with small holes along the central vertical fold, and Custer's signature very light but fully legible.
This stunning commission—ornately imprinted with the American eagle bearing a shield and clutching arrows and an olive branch beneath the heading, "The Commanding Officer of the Seventh Regiment of Cavalry"—holds a much sought-after Custer signature. The countersignature by William Winer Cooke, 1st Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry and Adjutant of the Regiment, adds greatly to this document's desirability: Cooke, a member of the so-called 'Custer Gang,' was one of the commander's most loyal men and remained so until the end, found by Custer's side on the fields at Little Bighorn in 1876.
The appointee, Ferdinand A. Culbertson, was still serving in the 7th Cavalry's Company A during the Battle of the Little Bighorn and did not participate in the massacre. He is remembered for recovering the famed 'Culbertson Guidon' three days after the fight while part of a burial detail tasked with interring the dead American soldiers. Culberston discovered the folded American cavalry flag on the body of Corporal John Foley, which remains the only known flag recovered from the battlefield. A supremely desirable 7th Cavalry commission with an important historic association.
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