ALS signed "W. T. Sherman, Lt. Genl.," one lightly lined page, 7.75 x 9.5, Headquarters, Military Division of the Missouri letterhead, December 28, 1868. Sherman writes to J. A. C[ampbell; this portion of the recipient's name in pencil]. In part: "I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter…notifying me that at your meeting in Chicago on the 15th inst. the Society had extended to me and my staff the rights of membership. I accept the same with pleasure, and will notify all officers who comprised my staff. Say at the taking of Atlanta—that they are also embraced in the list of honorary members of the Society of the Army of the Ohio." In fine condition.
The Army of Ohio was among the forces under Sherman's command when he and that division's commander, Major General John M. Schofield, launched the Atlanta Campaign. Despite a final effort by Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood to secure the city in late August, he was repulsed and abandoned Atlanta. On September 1st, Sherman marched in, and later that day, sent his famous communique to President Abraham Lincoln: 'So Atlanta is ours and fairly won!' His capture of the city proved to be one of Sherman's greatest exploits.
Pivotal politically as well as militarily, it also helped ensure Lincoln's reelection two months later against Democratic Party candidate and former Union commander George B. McClellan, whose party platform included acknowledgment of the Confederacy's independence. Here, four years after the fight, Sherman gratefully accepts membership by his military brethren. A most handsome example of a Sherman letter, boasting a coveted direct reference to the military triumph that forever cemented his reputation.
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