![LINCOLN, Abraham. President. Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, n.p., 21 October 1862. 5 lines, date and signature on the recto of original envelope, with autograph note of Gen. John A. McClernand. [Washington, D.C.], 21 October 1862. [With:] WILSON, J.F., Lieutenant. ALS to Lincoln, POST, J.P., Major, ALS to Sec. of War Stanton.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/1999/NYR/1999_NYR_09178_0229_000(115058).jpg?w=1)
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LINCOLN, Abraham. President. Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, n.p., 21 October 1862. 5 lines, date and signature on the recto of original envelope, with autograph note of Gen. John A. McClernand. [Washington, D.C.], 21 October 1862. [With:] WILSON, J.F., Lieutenant. ALS to Lincoln, POST, J.P., Major, ALS to Sec. of War Stanton.
THE CASE OF A FORMER LAWYER BADLY WOUNDED AT FORT DONELSON
An unusual group of documents which spell out the fascinating case of 1st Lieutenant Joseph Frye Wilson, a lawyer of Peoria, who had enlisted in Lincoln's first call for volunteers with the 8th Illinois Infantry. He then re-enlisted for three years, but in the Union attack on Fort Donelson in February, was badly wounded "while engaged in a desperate conflict with the enemy." Wilson's wound seriously impaired his power of speech and would prevent him from practicing law, so he applied for a non-combatant post of pay-master or assistant commissary. Major John P. Post has written to Secretary of War Stanton, describing Wilson's service record, noting that "the 8th Regt. suffered most severely at Donelson"; the letter is endorsed by Major General John A. McClernand and Brig. General Benjamin M. Prentiss. Wilson himself has written the President, stating his wish to be appointed.
The President has evidently found Wilson's case persuasive. His endorsement reads: "I wish the Secretary of War would see Mr. Wilson, and, in view of what he has suffered in the Country's cause, find him a place if possible." Lincoln's recommendation was effective and Wilson was appointed Captain and commissary of subsistence on November 26. Published in Collected Works, ed.R.P. Basler, 5:471.
THE CASE OF A FORMER LAWYER BADLY WOUNDED AT FORT DONELSON
An unusual group of documents which spell out the fascinating case of 1st Lieutenant Joseph Frye Wilson, a lawyer of Peoria, who had enlisted in Lincoln's first call for volunteers with the 8th Illinois Infantry. He then re-enlisted for three years, but in the Union attack on Fort Donelson in February, was badly wounded "while engaged in a desperate conflict with the enemy." Wilson's wound seriously impaired his power of speech and would prevent him from practicing law, so he applied for a non-combatant post of pay-master or assistant commissary. Major John P. Post has written to Secretary of War Stanton, describing Wilson's service record, noting that "the 8th Regt. suffered most severely at Donelson"; the letter is endorsed by Major General John A. McClernand and Brig. General Benjamin M. Prentiss. Wilson himself has written the President, stating his wish to be appointed.
The President has evidently found Wilson's case persuasive. His endorsement reads: "I wish the Secretary of War would see Mr. Wilson, and, in view of what he has suffered in the Country's cause, find him a place if possible." Lincoln's recommendation was effective and Wilson was appointed Captain and commissary of subsistence on November 26. Published in Collected Works, ed.R.P. Basler, 5:471.