April 11-13, 2023 Firearms and Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/13/2023
Lincoln endorsed envelope “Submitted to the Sec. of War. A. Lincoln Jan. 18. 1864” containing a letter of introduction and recommendation from Samuel J. Bayard to Lincoln requesting appointment of Col. Henry W. Brown, 3rd N.J. as paymaster. “You must well know his gallant service on many a bloody field . . . His health from wounds recd. Is such as hardly to warrant his continuance in active service . . . his friends had hoped he wd. be made a Brigadier Genl. which he has nobly deserved. But his health is such as to induce him to prefer the position of paymaster.” Bayard was a New Jersey judge and father of Brig. Gen. G.D. Bayard, mortally wounded at Fredericksburg. Brown (1816-1892) entered service as a Captain and became Colonel of the 3rd New Jersey, commanding the brigade several times, including the Chancellorsville Campaign, when he was wounded at Salem Heights. The letter is dated “Jan. 6th, 1863,” an easily understood slip of the pen for 1864. Brown remained on active service, was wounded again at Spottsylvania in May 1864, and mustered out on June 23. After his death in 1892 it was reportedly discovered that he had married several times, not always consecutively, when more than one widow applied for pension benefits. This letter was once part of the renowned Dr. John K. Lattimer Collection and comes with a James Spence Authentication Full Letter of Authenticity. CONDITION: Excellent. With JSA Letter of Authenticity.