Scarce Civil War-dated ALS signed “U. S. Grant, Lt. Gen.,” one page, 7.5 x 10, Head Quarters Armies of the United States letterhead, March 2, 1865. Addressed from City Point, Virginia, headquarters of the Union Army during the siege of Petersburg, a handwritten letter to Major General Henry Halleck, in full: “I think orders should go to [Edward] Canby to put [Frederick] Steele in command of the new Corps formed which properly should be numbered 13th and A. J. [Andrew Jackson] Smith’s 16th.” In fine condition, with light toning from a prior display. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as "MINT 9." Accompanied by a carte-de-visite 2.5 x 4 portrait photo of the Commanding General of the American Army wearing his four-star military uniform in a handsome three-quarter-length pose.
This letter relates to Steele’s command of the XIII Corps, part of Maj. Gen. Edward Canby's Union forces. Between February 18, 1865, and May 18, 1865, Steele led a force of African American soldiers, officially designated the ‘Column from Pensacola,’ in Canby's Army of West Mississippi. These troops fought at the battles of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley, the latter being the final major battle of the Civil War; the Confederates surrendered just hours after Grant had accepted the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox on the morning of April 9, 1865.
